Everyone knows what a Yenta is, right? A busybody. In the old days, if not for her, how would you know what was going on? So why do you need a Yenta in the Cyber Age when everyone and his brother-in-law not only reads the newspaper but 86% of you are publishing your own?Don't be such a big shot! You think I would write a whole book if I didn't know a little something? So, go pay for the book already. From me you get a guarantee that you will laugh so hard you'll plotz.
I was born in Brooklyn the same year Einstein died and Disneyland opened. I've always thought these facts were important! I spent my weekly allowance (25 cents) on penny candy from Cockey Louie's candy store. I dug in empty lots with spoons. I stayed out on long summer nights playing "Red-Light, Green-Light." There were all kinds of characters around in those days; "Blackie", "Mushy Tushy", "Stick Legs", "Couth", and we were all on the streets all the time, surrounded by old people on their folding chairs, or leaning out the windows, their elbows on pillows.
I wrote BROOKLYN VALENTINE as a tribute to the town I was born and raised in and the people I knew there. I left Brooklyn very reluctantly in 1993 (that's another story) and moved to Westchester County, where I nearly failed the entrance exam! (I did not own a blue Volvo wagon, or one article of clothing from Eddie Bauer. In fact I had never even HEARD of Eddie Bauer!)
As I wrote my book, I was happiest when I went back to Brooklyn so I could describe the places in the book accurately. For readers who have never been there, I hope my book gives you the feel of a travelogue.
