New York Books

i loved this book. i felt as though i was right there with him and his family through every phase of their lives. this book had everything going for it, sadness, chaos, happiness, tragedy. it was so personal and you just felt as though the author let you in to share with him.

This book will be enjoyed by all who read it for it is a story of survival from the ashes of the Holocaust. This book is also an excellent book club selection that will spark much thought and conversation.

Joseph Berger has written a story that needed to be told, but he has included too much extraneous material about his own life. Much of what he tells reveals what it was like growing up as the child of a refugee, but who cares whether or not he dated in high school?

The best parts of this book were those about his mother's life and about how she managed in the United States as a refugee. Berger's writing is more journalism than story telling. He's got all the facts, but none of his descriptions flare above the mundane. His mother's reminisences are far more artistic, and reveal more than the words on the page.

New York Times journalist Joseph Berger has created a masterful, evocative and moving account of the ever-present duality of his life: his identity as an acculturated American child of Holocaust survivors. This duality gives his account of his mother's life and his own evolution from a bewildered refugee child into an accomplished American a poignancy and power. "Displaced Persons" will stand as an important contribution, not only to our understanding of the long-term implications of being a survivor of the Holocaust, but of the unique burdens, pressures and responsibilities children of survivors inherit from their parents.

Berger is acutely aware of "the unmentioned sorrow that was the subtext to everything [his] parents said or did." Haunted by memories, devastated by enormous loss, handicapped by their arrival in America in their twenties and driven to provide security for their families, Holocaust survivors often perceive their children as replacements of beloved family members who perished and as repositories of hopes and dreams denied them. Worried about their children's safety, happiness and future, Berger muses about his parents' perspective, "What could I say about the dread and suspicion with which they encountered a world that had proven maliciously fickle?"

As the author emerges from childhood, he begins to chafe from his mother's protective, controlling instincts and desires to assert himself as his own man. Berger's wrenching analysis of his status becomes the overarching theme of his memoir. "I saw myself now an an American...I would no more be the timid refugee boy with one leg planted in the fearful shtetls of Poland, with a mother ever vigilant that no more perils come to the remnants of her kin." It is this unspoken loving tension between Joseph and his mother, Rachel, that gives "Persons" its dynamism.

Alternating between two narratives, one his own and the other the gripping account of his mother's survival, Berger deftly intermingles past and present. Aware of his distinct heritage, the young Berger recognizes others in his impoverished Manhattan neighborhood who share his background. "We knew one another, knew in our young bellies that our parents were the same dazed and damaged lot, had the same refugee awkwardness, the same whiff about them of marrow bones and carp." Now attempting to wrest coherence in America, Holocaust survivors tend to frustrate Berger with their problem solving techniques. Berger prefers the American way of standing up directly; survivors "were always scraping by on a willingness to do what was necessary to survive, even if that meant surrendering pride or principle."

Raw emotion floods "Displaced Persons." Rachel's symbolic mourning of a dead child in Warsaw at the onset of World War II serves to remind us that she has no "mental picture" of the actual murder of her family. Unspoken grief undulates throughout the memoir. Berger's stoic father Marcus scarcely articulates his unfathomable sense of loss; nearly half a century passes before he can utter the names of his sisters. Guilt ebbs and flows in Rachel's description of her survival. Anguished over refusing to bring non-kosher food to her hungry brother during World War II, she has never forgiven heself, calling it "the worst thing I ever did in my life."

Yet life surges and humor emerges in Berger's descriptions of growing up in New York City in the 1950s and 60s. With both parents working at dreary, tiring jobs, the author experiences a freedom of movement he admits he would never conceive of allowing his own daughter today. His descriptions of his initial exploration of Manhattan reveal the sheer joy of discovery, the incredible exuberance of youthful hopes and the awesome sense of possibilities Berger recognizes in his new home. Berger's frantic disposal of an illicit girlie magazine carries universal appeal; he becomes an American everyboy. His struggles with self-confidence, academic competition and sexual frustrations are those of not only his generation, but of those before and after.

Written with conviction and compassion, "Displaced Persons" is that kind of memoir that not only describes, but instructs. Through the author's descriptions of his resolute, stubborn and proud mother, survivors attain an identity beyond that of suffering and loss. His own life's story shapes our understanding of the purpose of our national experience and the sacredness of an American identity. Treating both the Holocuast in its past brutality and its implications for the second-generation children of survivors, the memoir blends sorrow and joy, heartache and hope, pain and redemption.

My father's story parallels Joseph Berger's in eerie ways...they were both at the Schlactensee DP Camp and the Landsberg-Am-Lech DP camp...Berger's mother's story of her youth could be my grandmother's, from an unpleasant step-mother to the flight East to Russia. My father was born during my grandparents' refuge in the USSR, and crossed illegally with his family into Poland after the war ended. I have always been close to my grandparents, but this book brought clarity and insight into topics they don't generally discuss...the duality that immigrant survivors (the displaced persons) felt between their new lives in America and the tragedy and loss left in Europe. When I look at my grandparents' happy faces at family occasions---graduations, weddings, bar mitzvahs, birthday parties---I wonder if the events make them remember times similar back in Lithuania. Berger's story, beautifully written and researched, is a must-read.

Retired NYPD Det. Al Sheppard is too humble to say so...but he is a True Hero! E-Man is an excellent book...a riveting account of his years with the prestigious Emergency Services Unit of the NYPD. There is an old saying "When a Civilian needs help, they call the Police. When Cops need help...they call the Emergency Services Unit...ESU!" I've known Al for some 17 years...and although I knew a lot about his 20 years of service with NYPD, even I didn't know most of his (and his fellow officer's) courageous exploits...detailed in this book. Buy it, read it, but be warned...You will have trouble putting this book down! --- Dr. J. Hill, Professor of Criminal Justice & Retired NJ Street Cop.

I cant wait till part 2 of E man comes out and hopefully it will.....I have read books by Schmetterer before....that is why this one caught my eye....The Coffey Files....and also Tom Walker has a new book out no one should miss.....A no put down amazing book.....by the author of Ft Apache the Bronx....we are lucky to have authors such as al sheppard schmetter and walker....readers like myself who like REal stories...need them...

Al Sheppard has done an excellent job of capturing what life as an E-Man is about. We have a saying, "Know your job, do your job" and Sheppard is a fine example of that.

From
An active E-Man

E-Man is a powerful collection of vignettes that showcase the excitement and energy of life in the NYPD Emergency Services Unit. It captures the true flavor of life in the streets without the sterilized writing you so often see in memoirs written by professionals trying to capture the essence of another's experiences. Schmetterer, the co-author, is to be complemented for not falling into that trap and thereby allowing us to experience Al Sheppard's life as an E Man as if we were there.

This book is as gripping and as exciting as the other reviews say it is. The only problem is its atrocious writing style, which is so bad that it obstructs the understanding of the content of the book. I had to reread many passages several times to figure out what Sheppard really meant. Topics are disorganized, digressions are sudden and often without appropriate context, grammar mistakes and typos abound (i.e. it's a 9mm submachine gun, not ".9 mm"; one rappels with a rope, not "repels"), police jargon and New York specific idioms are not always explained, and so on. Clearly, nobody proofread the manuscript before publication.

On the other hand, the rambling, conversational feel of Sheppard's writing style serves in a way to authenticate the story. His adventures don't have the life sucked out of them by the blandness and distance that would be imposed by an active co-author. You really feel like you are talking to the man who lived the story, rather than hearing it second-hand.

And what a story it is! Sheppard makes it clear that NYPD ESU is an incredible organization. If you are at all interested in the workings of SWAT teams, rescue operations, or anything related, this book is, despite its flaws, a must-read.

Excellent book -- tons of great restaurants, classic ethnic recipes to make when you get home, indexes by ethnicitiy and locale make places easy to find, explanations and introductions are interesting and informative. If you live in or will visit Queens, this is a great book to have.

Excellent book, beautifully printed, with fascinating information on the foods of many different countries. As Queens County (in New York) has over 150 different ethnicities (the most ethnically diverse county in the US), this is a very welcome addition, and quite obviously a labor of love. Even though it originally came out in 2005, it is still worth purchasing for the great food descriptions of various cultures and the recipes included at the back of each chapter.

In a city that offers thousand of possibilities for food lovers, one needs a very talented and focused Suzanne Parker to separate the wheat from the chafe.
Ms. Parker did a great job in unveiling the cuisines of so many nationalities, and also included excellent recipes for those among us who dare to try.

Organized by ethnic cuisine, this book is a wonderful guide to the vast restaurant scene in Queens, which is underrepresented in both restaurant guides and the New York media. The author has included descriptions of the various cuisines and dishes, and also contact information and easy to follow directions for how to get to each restaurant. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves to eat and wants to get to know New York better.

This book is really quite something. It is jam packed with recipes, restaurant information, and unforgettable facts the likes of which I have never come across in any other cookbook or restaurant guide. This book fills a niche that has been empty far too long.

Growing up in Brooklyn certainly has it's own cachet, but I, a female, growing up in Massachusetts at the same time as E B, found so much that was familiar. The book is a wonderful treatise on growing up anywhere, but E B and his friends are so special that I didn't want to finish reading it. It was a splendid "read".

The book really took me back I grew up in East Flatbush in Bklyn in the 50's. It was a little before my time but I did remember alot of the places he talked about. I recommend this book to anyone it is fast reading,enjoyable and you just feel like your part of EB's many friends. I just emaied a few of my old friends an am passing the book on to one of them and telling the rest to go out an get a copy you won't be sorry. I wish there were more books like this out there I tell my children all the time about how great it was to grow up the 50's.

Gave a great deal of insight into the development of friendships and lifetime committments. "Bobby saves Jerry" and they remain friends for a lifetime. Just beautiful---Would love to see a sequel to this book. Interested in knowing the stories of the characters as they matured, including their successes, joys, heartaches and disappointments.

EB exceeded all of my expectations, and I am a very discriminating reader. It's a charming memoir of a very special time, and of a group of kids that everyone can see a part of themselves in. The backdrop of Flatbush, Brooklyn of the 40s and 50s adds a wonderful, nostalgic touch. How great to read something touching and good in today's times of turmoil and questionable ethics. I recommend it whole-heartedly.

I grew up in a small town, but I married a boy from Brooklyn who went to St. Vincent Ferrer. For 40+ years I have heard the stories of that life and those times, and it was a thrill to have it all documented is such a charming and factual manner. Bert Kemp put on paper what my husband has told me through the years.

Totally portable, accurate and inexpensive. I would not venture out in Manhattan without this booklet in my bag.

I bought this book a little over a year ago and have used it for several business trips. It is small and easy to carry, doesn't look touristy, and gives me a lot of confidence getting around Manhattan. The best $ I ever spent. You know how some people just seem to "know" New York even though they don't live there? Well, that's me now.

Certainly veteran New Yorkers will snicker that they don't need "Fodor's Flashmaps New York" to get around town. And they may very well be right. However, as a New Yorker with many international friends I field countless queries about what to do in New York City when you get here. Let's be honest...the Big Apple is gigantic. And no matter how well versed you are about New York City...things change so quickly in this town that it is smart to have this tidy little book around just in case you happen to suffer from brainlock.

And then of course sometimes friends ask for help for things for the kids or for their young teens. Moreover, some queries are specifically for daylight hours, nightlife, weekend activities or happenings in boroughs outside of Manhattan. This text can help. Additionally, Fodor's includes essential telephone numbers for hotels, places of worship, ballparks, schools and universities, airports, transportation, museums, art galleries, parks, shopping, dining, theaters, movies, libraries, consulates, hospitals and hip nightlife activities. Fodor's even provides zip codes but no e-mail addresses.

This book is a great tool. It's small and can easily slip into the inside of your sports coat or if you have a normal size purse, just pop it in and you're set. Or better yet...carry it around in your back pocket (it fits). There are 61 maps and thousands of listings. It will help you walk around, take buses, ride the subways or take railways into the suburbs. In my opinion it clearly is worth the investment for metropolitans or for anyone who wants to visit New York City. One thing is for sure...it will save you plenty of time, and as everyone knows...time is an important commodity.

Bert Ruiz

I donýt know how the conversation started, but I was at the Union Square store of a major competitor of Amazon, letýs just call it FarmStructures & Nobel Booksellers, and the security guard told me that he had relied on this book as a native New Yorker for years. So I bought it.

And now *I* have relied on it for years.

Whether you are looking for where the ýDý train crosses the ý7ý or where exactly Cornelia Street is anyway, this book is excellent. Museums, movie theaters, road maps and highways are all here. The shopping and restaurants sections are good for out-of-towners looking for the classics, less useful for New Yorkers looking for the next new thing, obviously.

Itýs small, convenient, and well-drafted (the maps themselves are different colors so you can readily find what youýre looking for as you flip through ý yellow is street /subway; pink is daytime attractions; black/blue for nighttime attractions). All in all, anybody living in or visiting New York frequently would find this useful. If you are a one-time tourist, though, youýre probably better off going with something more comprehensive like Lonely Planet.

Enjoy!

I highly recommend that when you visit NYC you carry a copy of Flashmaps with you. It's a convenient subway and bus map, shows you all the neighborhoods, museums, post offices, etc. But the thing I use the most is the cross street lookup, which I relied on not just while new in NYC but also as a long-time resident.
I discovered the NYC Flashmaps many years ago when I asked a limo driver exactly where a business address was. He pulled out his Flashmaps, turned to the cross street page and told me the exact cross street in well... a flash. He told me no professional driver and no New Yorker should be without it. I bought my first copy that day and have been telling residents and vistors alike for years.

I read Mrs. Slate's first novel ("The House on Sprucewood Lane"), and found it hard to get into, but about halfway through, I could tolerate it and then found it suspenseful enough to want to finish. The first novel's sentence structure was, I thought, filled with way too many and unnecessary metaphors, and clearly seemed like a first attempt, for both the author and the editor. The verbose style seemed irritating to me even though the story was a good one. BUT, look out! This second novel is one of the best books I've read in a long time. I can hardly put it down! All that excess and verbosity from the first novel - gone. As a matter of fact, I'm half-way through "A Fractured Truth" and I just had to stop long enough to recommend this with more then the highest honors, in my opinion, in both style and story content. I'll let you know when I finish it if it remains as SUPERB as it is so far.

I just discovered that I can't write a second comment, but that I can add to this one. I finished the book and it was SUPERB all the way through. I was disappointed when it ended. I loved the story, twists, and characters. It was truly a page-turner. I can't wait until Mrs. Slate's next novel.

Kate

This book deserves best-seller status. As other reviewers noted, heroine Grace Leshansky has just been released from prison, where she spent 7 years for killing her husband. As Grace begins to adjust to a new scaled-down life -- her husband had already destroyed her bank account -- she tries to learn more about her father, a gambler whose debts had led to frequent confrontations with "enforcers."

Author Caroline Slate weaves multiple threads in and out, moving us from present to past effortlessly and skillfully. She keeps us interested in the characters . And, most important, she makes us care about characters whose flaws are both serious and obvious.

Grace admits she can be gullible -- and she manages to attract some of the best liars on the planet. Grace's father George, a George Burns wannabe, has earned Grace's love and trust while providing an erratic but eventful home life. Each character embodies a level of complexity rarely found in heroes, let alone minor charactersi

After reading the book through, I went back to re-trace some missing parts. All the strands were tied neatly, except for a mention of Grace's "stalking" her grandfatrher: it wasn't clear when she acually did find and follow him.

I hope Slate writes more fiction like this one - and gets more publicity and fame, too! A wonderful, thought-provoking all around "good read."

After killing her husband, Grace Leshansky plea bargained a five to fifteen year sentence for manslaughter and was released after seven years. During her prison time she pushed all her friends away except for Sheilah Donlan who not only picked her up from the penitentiary but also got her an apartment and a job in her headhunting business. Now Grace has to adjust to life on the outside knowing that she killed the man who took away her livelihood, her father her and her self-respect.

In the first weeks of freedom, Grace realizes her parole officer is a battered wife who hates her, makes friends with a con man like her dead husband, and reconnects with her first love Michael, whose father is indirectly responsible for the mess her life is in. Michael's dad, serving a life sentence, is also the only man who can help her find the father she wants to see one last time.

Caroline Slate lives up to the promise she's shown in her debut novel THE HOUSE ON SPRUCEWOOD LANE with her second novel, a powerful work about a woman who is driven to murder, but somehow hooks the reader's sympathy even before all the facts are revealed. The protagonist's relationship with her friends, her lover, and her father ring so true that the audience will shed tears for a woman who was deliberately pushed to her limit by an expert manipulator and brilliant con man. A FRACTURED TRUTH is a compelling powerful story.

Harriet Klausner

"A Fractured Truth" grabs your attention and keeps you engrossed. I lit candles and read "A Fractured Truth" from the night of August 14th through the night of August 15th. I almost forgot the heat, darkness and lack of water. I wonderful escape into a world of fascinating people.

A Fractured Truth is one of the most suspenseful novels I have recently read. The dark language and building of tension kept me turning the pages until the wee hours of the night. I couldn't put it down. Grace Leshanky is convicted of murdering her husband. When she's released on parole, she has difficulty getting on with her life. As the story progresses, the reader gets a glimpse into Grace's life and the sort of marriage she and her husband had. What develops is a twisted story that takes the reader in a whole other direction. As said earlier, I couldn't put this book down. Are you in the bargain for an intelligent, sinister thriller? I recommended A Fractured Truth.

This is a book that helps you see the world with fresh eyes and a generous heart. Jim Atwell has a knack for elevating the experiences of daily life - some charming and quirky, others poignant and painful, some just seemingly mundane - into the realm of the profound, the beautiful and the joyful. Though his world may seem circumscribed by the tiny, rural community of Fly Creek in upstate New York, that is simply the window through which we walk with him into a wider world of human behavior as he ponders the world of meaning in the doleful eyes of sheep, the world fame of the town kazoo band, and the lives of neighbors who befriend and transform him from a citified academic escaping the pain of his young wife's death into a new and vibrant, occasionally adept, farmer. These are tales that can give guidance to anyone intrigued by a life's journey.

Writers and illustrators worth their salt MUST add colors, or tangibly bring life, to images discussed and presented in their writings. Otherwise, their words and illustrations should naturally die on the vine.

In their current book, From Fly Creek, with Jim Atwell's words, and Anne Geddes-Atwell's illustrations, nothing dies at all. With his written observations and her magnificent illustrations, they do the positive things, and so much more. They poignantly paint such vivid and meaningful pictures. As readers, we must now use a different set of glasses, and view things through humans' AND animals' eyes. What an opportunity! To see and experience life through another perspective. Hey, not bad!

Anne Geddes-Atwell's illustrations are superb! They strike the graphic and visual chords that we all need to hear and feel. They enhance the pictures and text exactly when they need to appear. Jim's and Anne's creative talents add to more than the arithmetic total of their individual contributions. As readers, we are able to experience and enjoy their combined talents and offerings. Better still, we'll remember them individually on the levels we need to.

Several years ago, circumstances brought Jim to Fly Creek. He needed what that New York local community had to offer. Fly Creek needed the writing and visual talents that he and Anne ultimately brought to local readers. The rest, as some might say, is recorded history.

Excuse me, but have you ever fed hungry animals on a cold morning? If not, don't bother me with you're your small problems. The Atwell's have dealt with these, as well as bigger ones. Please read Chapter 2 of From Fly Creek. Then tell me about your insignificant concerns. Pardon me, while I don't care.

I have more encouraging words about future chapters. However, for now, I'll blow them off. Just buy the book. Believe me, you'll be better off for having done so.

Buy this book, NOW! Otherwise, you're missing a part of life you'll need.

Reading From Fly Creek is like listening to a good-humored friend, a friend looking at the passing parade from a country setting. Atwell's tales of unique persons and lively creatures are so filled with fine detail that "we are there," wherever he wants to take us. The song of his prose enchants us, especially when writing about Cooperstown's baseball aura and the Salvation Army kettle incident. And, oh yes, don't miss the delightful sketch of the mouse in the bed or the last page's inspiring motto. This is a book to read and re-read. Frances Fowler, California

I have been reading Jim Atwell's columns in the Coopertown Crier for a couple of years now and liked them so much I went back into the archives for more of Fly Creek's history and people. These essays are in the very best tradition of observational writings of authors like James Heriot and Bill Bryson. You will find yourself transported to and become part of this community whose people will become your neighbors and friends.

Jim Atwell is an immensely talented author. The powerful imagery found on each page of From Fly Creek: Starting Again In Leatherstocking Country will enchant and awaken your imagination. This lyrical, deeply felt but unsentimental, distinguished book of non-fiction is destined to win the Pulitzer Prize.

In GHOST OF PORTBYRON AND GHOSTS ALONG THE ERIEI HAVE SELECTED MOST OF THE FAMOUS STORIES.P.BHAPPENS TO HAVE A WEALTH OF THEM.MOST OF THEGHOSTS RECORDED CAN BE CONNECTED WITH SOME PERSONWHO DIED THERE.IN MY STORIES I HAVE PRESENTED ONLYTHOSE ACCOUNTS SUBSTANTIATED THRU OLD FAMILY RECORDS AND THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF RELIABLEINDIVIDUALS.HOW THE READER CHOOSES TO INTERPRETTHEM IS A MATTER THAT ONLY THE READER CAN DECIDE,IF YOU MEET UP WITH A GHOST, JUST EJOY THE HAPPENING. DON'T BE AFRAID. MARY ANN

In GHOST OF PORTBYRON AND GHOSTS ALONG THE ERIEI HAVE SELECTED MOST OF THE FAMOUS STORIES.P.BHAPPENS TO HAVE A WEALTH OF THEM.MOST OF THEGHOSTS RECORDED CAN BE CONNECTED WITH SOME PERSONWHO DIED THERE.IN MY STORIES I HAVE PRESENTED ONLYTHOSE ACCOUNTS SUBSTANTIATED THRU OLD FAMILY RECORDS AND THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF RELIABLEINDIVIDUALS.HOW THE READER CHOOSES TO INTERPRETTHEM IS A MATTER THAT ONLY THE READER CAN DECIDE,IF YOU MEET UP WITH A GHOST, JUST EJOY THE HAPPENING. DON'T BE AFRAID. MARY ANN

This book is absolutely ravishing. It's obvious that the author put her heart-and-soul into writing it and has a keen sense of recording the stories from around her town. Mary Ann Johnson must be a wonderful woman to know and must be the best and most beautiful Grandmother in the world.

In GHOST OF PORTBYRON AND GHOSTS ALONG THE ERIEI HAVE SELECTED MOST OF THE FAMOUS STORIES.P.BHAPPENS TO HAVE A WEALTH OF THEM.MOST OF THEGHOSTS RECORDED CAN BE CONNECTED WITH SOME PERSONWHO DIED THERE.IN MY STORIES I HAVE PRESENTED ONLYTHOSE ACCOUNTS SUBSTANTIATED THRU OLD FAMILY RECORDS AND THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF RELIABLEINDIVIDUALS.HOW THE READER CHOOSES TO INTERPRETTHEM IS A MATTER THAT ONLY THE READER CAN DECIDE,IF YOU MEET UP WITH A GHOST, JUST EJOY THE HAPPENING. DON'T BE AFRAID. MARY ANN

In GHOST OF PORTBYRON AND GHOSTS ALONG THE ERIEI HAVE SELECTED MOST OF THE FAMOUS STORIES.P.BHAPPENS TO HAVE A WEALTH OF THEM.MOST OF THEGHOSTS RECORDED CAN BE CONNECTED WITH SOME PERSONWHO DIED THERE.IN MY STORIES I HAVE PRESENTED ONLYTHOSE ACCOUNTS SUBSTANTIATED THRU OLD FAMILY RECORDS AND THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF RELIABLEINDIVIDUALS.HOW THE READER CHOOSES TO INTERPRETTHEM IS A MATTER THAT ONLY THE READER CAN DECIDE,IF YOU MEET UP WITH A GHOST, JUST EJOY THE HAPPENING. DON'T BE AFRAID. MARY ANN

I have only scanned the book, however I am historically familiar with a
lot of the content which motivated me to buy the book as a collectors
item. I also order the book for my grandson and a friend's son.

Doug Murray

Here is a man who should be an inspiration to a whole generation. This book is more proof that he is more than just an athlete. This book is recommended reading for all teenagers

On the Shoulders of Giants speaks of a bygone, sometimes forgotten piece of America and its culture that nevertheless has great, reaching tentacles into our present, and that will continue to shake and embrace us well into our future. Beautifully written, with a title that says it all, this book is just as evocative and fascinating for non-sports, non-jazz fans as it will undoubtedly be for those entrenched in both subjects.

A wonderful discovery.

Especially interesting are the musicians and music that originated or passed through Harlem during this time.

The Harlem Renaissance continues to contribute to society today, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar explains why in this memoir.

This book is great for anyone looking for entertainment in NYC. Not only does it break down all of the bars/clubs/restaurants/lounges for any kind of mood...it gives you great ideas for any kind of entertainment you are looking for. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone living or planning to visit NYC.

This book rocks! I'm a guy and I have to say that this is truly not just a "Girls Guide". My buddies and I picked it up one night at a local bookstore, just to see what all the hoop-la was about. To our surprise, we finally learned and figured out where to meet chicks! THANK YOU DANIELLA! Now, we can get out of our Apts. and stop playing PS2. This is a great book for guys as well. When is "Girls Guide 2" coming out? Looking forward to it!

Well, I've never been to your town but if like me, you come from a little town in the darkest recesses of wild and wooly wales (uk) then, theres nothing like getting your feet up and reading daniellas book. It was a laugh from the first page to the last and I'll make sure I make a bee-line to your shores toot sweet.Please give us some more and give my love to your mother who I'm sure is a lovely lady. Don't worry I'm a nice person really .....all the best E.

This book was the most hilarious, quick-witted thing I've read in a long, long time. I am EAGERLY awaiting the author's novel. I am her hugest fan now! The book is great (not to mention the chic art), includes many many places to hit in NYC and the stories are absolutely hysterical. She cuts nightlife down with a double-edged sword and makes choosing where to go out SO enjoyable, especially for a fellow soon-to-be-former commuter LI'er like me. God bless you Daniella, and your magical pen!

Good stuff! I'm a dude and all I have to say is, Thank you Daniella! I have been living in NYC for several years now and I can finally say that I have found my Nightlife guide. This is not just a "Girls Guide". Any smart guy should pick up this book and read it cover to cover. Fellas, she TELLS us where ALL the ladies are. How much easier can it get? I read it, used it and meet many females. You may have to go to the Beauty Bar, but who cares...you'll be glad you did later. She has it all in there. Be it the local hole(Reservior)to the high-roller(Bungalow 8) joints. She knows her spots and you will too!