Johnny Once [Paperback]

Robert Gangi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 2005

Johnny Once is a family saga, chronicling the Rosarios, born and bred in the loud and gaudy Italian American enclave, Bensonhurst. It is a New York City story--peopled by a cross-section of urban ethnics: blacks, Latins, and whites (Italians, Jews, Irish, and WASPS accounted for). It is about racial and electoral politics, how they intersect and how they can rend the city's heart. It is about the effort to reconcile current life and values--in this case, embodied by Manhattan's liberal and sophisticated Upper West Side--with the pull of personal history and roots--Brooklyn's standpat and parochial Bensonhurst. It is about fathers and sons and the legacy, burdens, and code of behavior that get passed on. It is about the decline of the power of the Mafia and loyalty and betrayal among brothers and friends.

Johnny Once has sex, violence and rock and roll in it--but in the main, it is two things: a mystery, the resolution of which has grave consequences for our heroes; and a love story between two old friends who seek in their romance a number of things, including refuge from the surrounding turmoil.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert Gangi is, like his novel?s protagonist, a second generation Sicilian-American who left behind his childhood?s Brooklyn backyards. The father of two grown sons, he now lives in Manhattan with his wife. A leading prison reform expert, he has run the Correctional Association of New York for over 22 years.

Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (January 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595333052
• ISBN-13: 978-0595333059
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,933,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Evocative and brave and fun to read, January 22, 2006

By 

Ira Glasser - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Johnny Once (Paperback)

This first novel-- remarkably smooth, engaging and well-structured for a first novel-- evokes a time that no longer exists and tells a story of what it was like growing up in the tightly insular ethnic neighborhoods of New York, and the pains and difficulties of leaving those neighborhoods and the life you led for another, quite incompatible life. It is a brave book, too, because it does not hesitate to reveal some very private places and because it shows how long and unbreakable the cultural umbilical cord can be. It is also-- again remarkable for a first novel- a gripping mystery on several levels at once, with all the loose ends credibly tied together by the time the book ends. And oh yes, it was fun to read, no small thing. The characters are interesting, unique, real and believable and the ethnic food scenes alone are worth the price of admission.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Literary Feast of New York City, January 16, 2006

By 

Colin Starger "Colin Starger" (Queens, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Johnny Once (Paperback)

In Johnny Once, Robert Gangi serves up a literary feast of NYC politics, racial tension, ethnic and family loyalty, violence, and sex. The sounds and smells of Brooklyn's old Italian neighborhoods waft throught this potent mix, and memories hang like mist around the well-drawn characters as they struggle to separate chance from fate. Johnny Once is a great read -- at turns comic, wistful, hard-boiled, and heart-breaking.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Full of heart, May 8, 2005

By 

Glencora - See all my reviews

This review is from: Johnny Once (Paperback)

The protagonist of this novel returns with both longing and trepidation to the Brooklyn of his youth, a place where the neighborhood toughs, despite violent occupations, display tenderness and fierce loyalties. John Rosario has distanced himself from his mobster family, becoming a do-gooder community activist across the river in Manhattan. But at midlife, after a divorce, he finds himself drawn to the old 'hood. Waiting for him there are love, fabulous Italian food, home and hearth, but he must also face the racism and criminality that form part of the fabric of life in Bensonhurst. Johnny Once is deeply felt, but it's also a character-filled romp full of plot twists and intrigue.