Overview

""Historians and baby boomers alike will recall the 1950s as a golden age. A golden age of television, sports and the American family dream. Steve Zettler's insightful Leave the Kid Alone, reveals the tarnish and the shadow that hung over this golden age... a great and insightful memoir."" Dan Lauria, star of The Wonder Years Stevie is seven years old, going on eight, and the world is his oyster. He's growing up above the family restaurant/bar/country inn, nestled in the free-spirited, alcohol-saturated Bucks County, Pennsylvania of the 1950s. The Inn is a magnet-a merry-go-round attracting larger-than-life characters from every imaginable walk of life. On one side are the customers and overnight guests: Broadway producers, actors and songsters; Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, colorful artists, mobsters, and the occasional governor. On the other side of the kitchen's swinging door are the employees: worldly-wise war veterans, savvy waitresses, and acerbic bartenders. For Stevie, it's a world of constant motion, noise, and wonder. But his life is about to change in a way no one could have predicted. Growing up can be hard to do-and there may be no way of avoiding it.

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9783988321985

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Reviews

""Historians and baby boomers alike will recall the 1950s as a golden age. A golden age of Television, sports and the American family dream. Steve Zettler's insightful Leave the Kid Alone, reveals the tarnish and the shadow that hung over this golden age. Young men growing up in this Ideal time were surrounded by grandfathers from World War I, fathers from World War II and uncles and older brothers from the Korean war. Growing up in the shadow of these veterans left us with no choice but to follow in the footsteps of the men and heroes we admired. By following we baby boomers marched right into Vietnam. A must read for those who want to understand this so-called golden age and what it led to. This is a great and insightful memoir."" Dan Lauria, star of The Wonder Years ""Leave the Kid Alone is laugh-out-loud funny and presents an unvarnished view of human nature through the don't-bullshit-me eyes of the eight-year-old Stevie. There's a bit of Jean Shepherd here (A Christmas Story) and a bit of Huck Finn in this engaging picture of 1950s America, seen through the lens of a family hotel/restaurant business. It's a special treat for Philly area folks, with its view of both the Bucks County country inn milieu, trips to Germantown to meet Stevie's grandmother and summers at the Jersey Shore. Zettler keeps the story moving and excels at depicting the worldview of a young boy who is not taking any crap from anyone."" Joel Turner, author of Wildwood Exit ""Simultaneously snarky and sweet, this vivid slice of life in the boozy 50s from a child's perspective is poignant, hilarious, and a great read."" Jon McGoran, author of The Price of Everything ""What a treat! This hits all the feels of a great nostalgic read: innocent, hysterical, historical. This would make eight-year-old Steverino's Uncle John really proud. If you like Jean Shepherd's telling of A Christmas Story, you will adore this. I do. Highly entertaining. Pick this one up."" Chris Bauer, author of the Maximum Risk, Blessid Trauma, and Counsel Fungo series ""Delightful, funny, at times irreverent, this autobiographical sketch is told through the eyes of eight-year-old Stevie Zettler. From Great Aunt Bertha to Nicky and the mob, from the slightly off-kilter Nana to the ex-convicts working at the family Inn, you will laugh at the antics of this somewhat-naive narrator who understands more than he lets on. A genuinely enjoyable read that will keep you turning each page."" Mike Maggio, author of the award-winning Woman in the Abbey ""Steve Zettler's memoir, Leave the Kid Alone, recounts the story of his family's business, an inn in Bucks County, Pennsylvania through the eyes of an eight-year-old boy. We encounter philandering Broadway producers, mobsters, kitchen help with checkered pasts, and hard-drinking, quirky family members. The story is skillfully told in a light conversational tone, and it is both easy and pleasurable to become immersed in the magical and innocent world of little Stevie. It's a great read, and I recommend it to anyone who loves a good story well told."" Michael Fryd, author of My Mother's War ""Call me Stevie! Like Melville's Ishmael on the Pequod, Steve Zettler presents his eight-year old self in Leave the Kid Alone: but the vessel traveled here is his family's saloon in the 1950's, a place frequented by wild, wily and wise characters, who shape the young boy's perspective on life, while giving readers a new glimpse into the diverse melting pot that has always defined America."" John McCaffrey, author of Two Syllable Men

Author Information

Steve Zettler is a professional writer and actor. He is the author of the international thrillers The Second Man, Double Identity, Ronin, Two for the Money, Tick...Tick...Tick..., and the romantic suspense novel, Careless Love. He is also theco-author of the twelve titles in the best-selling Nero Blanc mystery series. He has worked extensively as an actor in New York, Los Angeles and regionally, and created a memorable role in a Pulitzer Prize-winning play. He has also worked on many television shows and feature films, and is a Marine Corps combat veteran. Visit: stevezettler.com

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