Overview

The memoir charts the young life of a boy who grows up in a peasant family in Long Island City Queens, New York and traces his development until he reaches age fourteen. A father's abusive drinking, womanizing, and disrespect for family values and safety is assuaged by his mother's cooking and nurturing hand. The book's inciting incident revolves around the father's giving up the family apartment to a local bookie to satisfy a gambling debt. And soon after, the father must escape to California, while leaving the family behind to deal with the bookies harassments and threats. Eventually the family escapes to join the father in California, but the father's habits force the mother to cut him out of their lives for good,

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9798989194315

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Author Information

Joe Ortiz is one of the founding owners of Gayle's Bakery & Rosticceria in Capitola, California. His published books include The Village Baker, The Village Baker's Wife, and Shakespeare On Golf. He has written and produced five musicals, among them Over the Roof (formerly titled Escaping Queens), Smoke Cabaret, and BREAD!--The Musical. His essays have appeared in Food & Wine Magazine, Bon Appétit, and Writers Digest.

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