Seabury Place

Daniel Wolfe author of <I>Cold Ground's Been My Bed: A Korean War Memoir</I> brings to life his Bronx neighborhood during the Great Depression-a scene populated by characters that sound like a casting call for Guys and Dolls: Willie the Weasel Lunchee Noiviss Trench Feet Jake the Pickleman Pimple Ear and the Creep.</p>A street vendor's cart offered a baked sweet potato a jelly apple or shaved ice dripping with syrup. A raucous game of stickball street hockey or off the curb resounded with predictable arguments. Dan depicts his hilarious antics as a busboy at a Catskill Mountain resort a first date boat ride up the Hudson River and the everyday caustic jokes of the boys hanging out at the candy store.</p>But the heart and soul of Dan's childhood was found not in his colorful street life but within the two-bedroom flat that his parents made home for a family of five despite a hostile janitor a cold radiator and a leaky icebox. The author's relationship with his hard-working Ma and Pa illuminates this memoir.</p>Like a long talk with old friends late into the night <i>Seabury Place</i> is an experience you won't want to end.