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Book Review: Apartment
4B, Like in Brooklyn
By Evan Ginzburg
Alternative Press 148 pages $14.95
Reviewed by Tom Filsinger
I'm pleased to announce that another excellent book has come
across my desk at Fed HQ. It's a book written by old friend, Evan Ginzburg.
Game fans will remember Evan from his appearance at GalactiCon 2004 with
Johnny Valiant. He is the producer and editor of Wrestling Then and Now
newsletter and manages several wrestlers. Evan has written an autobiography
called Apartment 4B, Like in Brooklyn.
God, how I love a good autobiography, mainly because the best
ones offer some universal insights and concepts to ponder that stretch
beyond the life of the author. Evan's book does just that. Evan grew up in
Brooklyn in the 1960's and 1970's. He saw his neighborhood slowly evolve
from a traditional ethnic immigrant neighborhood to a multi-racial
neighborhood populated by Blacks and Hispanics.
Apartment 4B is the story of a Jewish family
adapting to these major changes.And adapting is the key word. Evan
describes in graphic detail the pleasures and pains of these adjustments.
From being beaten up regularly for any change in his pocket, to having his
brand new bicycle stolen in broad daylight, to tales of murder, cheating,
and degradation, it all seems like a painful and bitter life lesson.And yet
the book is free from real rancor or hostility. Evan's world is a complex
world where his new friendships were very fulfilling, from playing
inner-city street games like Skully and stickball, to going to the latest
showings of Bruce Lee movies, to identifying with James Brown as his
hero, Evan has carved a romantic vision at the same time that his stories
are frightening, dehumanizing, and sometimes downright revolting.
The book is written in a short story format, making it easy to
pick up and put down at the drop of a hat. Not that it's easy to put down.
Evan's writing style is easily accessible with many humorous touches thrown
in to offset the sometimes painful memories. As a child of the same time
period, I can identify with Evan's stories, the main difference being that
my family moved (ironically to a Jewish suburb) prior to the
inner-city upheavals that the Ginzburg family endured. I saw the tip of the
iceburg when I lived in East Cleveland in the 1960's.
Evan's family stayed at Apartment 4B even when "white
flight" saw many other families moving out. Wrestling fans will enjoy
Evan's references to his love for professional wrestling beginning with
Bruno Sammartino and many others. There's even a nice drawing of Baron Von
Raschke by Rick Knox in the book. Maybe Rick would let us use it someday if
we add the Baron to the Legends game lineup. I heartily recommend Apartment
4B, Like in Brooklyn. It's an easy read on a difficult subject.
Ginzburg's love of life and pop culture shine through the
tough times and his experiences represent a microcosm for the shifting
template of American culture in the 1960's and 1970's. Take it from me, a
big reader of memoirs, that this is worth picking up. The book is available
now through mail order at: PO Box 640471 Oakland Gardens Station Flushing,
NY 11364 for $14.95 and $2.50 postage and handling (Add $5 for overseas
orders).
From Fred Geobold, WBAI-FM 99.5 NYC-
Evan Ginzburg has
put into words the emotions and experiences of growing up in the
ever-changing Brooklyn of the ‘60s and ‘70s: a Brooklyn that is lost
forever. We read several tales on the air and they’re funny, poignant and
most certainly memorable.
Review by Fred Argoff from Brooklyn
Magazine Issue #52-
This quote appears
at the end of the introduction: “In adulthood, Ginzburg moved to a foreign
country (Flushing), yet his heart is still in Brooklyn. This book is a
reflection of Ginzburg’s lifelong ties to his beloved Brooklyn. It doesn’t
get any better than this.”
If you were born in
Brooklyn, it doesn’t matter how long you lived there. Whether you move away
as a child or as an adult, and wherever you go, you will always carry a
little bit of the borough around with you. We offer this as a pathetic, tip
of the iceberg explanation for the waxing nostalgic of Brooklyn.
That said, there’s
nothing better than a book recalling one’s childhood in Brooklyn. Why, Your
Friendly Local Editor could have written this-but he didn’t; Evan Ginzburg
from Lenox Road in Flatbush did. And for this we can all be grateful.
The book has six
chapters, and a look at their titles tells hints at what’s to come: Early Daze; We are Family; Reading,
Writing and Humiliation: Block Heads; Boys and the Hood; Last Gasp. And
there’s an appendix with photos—including a stickball picture that will be
immediately familiar to everybody.
Apartment 4B, Like in Brooklyn is available for
$14.95 (plus $2.50 postage and handling) from the author at PO Box 640471
Oakland Gardens Station, Flushing, NY 11364. You will be severely remiss if
you don’t send away for a copy ASAP. If you come from Brooklyn, every page
will bring a smile to your face, because you will have experienced many of
the same things. And if you’re not from around here, well, at least you’ll
understand why natives feel Brooklyn is such a special place.
Evan Ginzburg and Days of Brooklyn Past
Author's Memoir
Reflects a Brooklyn Long Gone
Brooklyn's cultural
landscape is ever-changing and those who remember "the old"
Brooklyn are few. One of those Brooklyn natives, Evan Ginzburg, decided to
preserve the Brooklyn he once knew in his memoir Apartment 4B, Like in
Brooklyn.
A Queens College sociology class
inspired Ginzburg to pen his memoirs of growing up in East Flatbush during
the 60s and 70s. Says Ginzburg, "I was writing how and why the
neighborhood changed with all kinds of statistics to go with it. The
professor was incredibly encouraging saying, 'Let's do something important
with this,' but my beloved father had just died and my head wasn't on
straight then." So it wasn't until years later that Ginzburg gave in
to the inner voice urging him to write.
"It was always this nagging
thing on my shoulder - "I need to write about this." The
"this" was a Brooklyn that no longer exists.
Ginzburg grew up on
245 Lenox Road between Nostrand and Rogers. A mostly blue-collar Jewish
neighborhood when Ginzburg's family moved there, demographics changed
dramatically in the 1960s.
"The changes in Brooklyn in
the 1960s and 70s weren't natural," Ginzburg explains. "They were
expedited by 'blockbusting.' The real estate interests knock on people's
doors and scare them by telling them, 'The blacks are coming in – you
should get out now.' Then the [real estate] agents make a low offer on
their house. Rip them off. They’d turn around rip off the black family
interested in buying the house by overcharging them. Taking from both
sides. They created an unnatural flight to the suburbs. I remember on the
next block over [from him], a young white woman was murdered. This was 1968
or 1969. Murders were few and far between back then. Months of fear went
by; of course everyone thought a black guy did it. What happened? Turned
out that her white boyfriend did it. They were turbulent times politically
then as well. Martin Luther King was just killed." Ginzburg says. And
that that aura of fear remained. The 'white flight' to the suburbs was
common."
Ginzburg's family didn't leave
though and ended up being one of the few white families in the
neighborhood. It wasn’t easy for Ginzburg, but there were always some
amazing experiences that Ginzburg held on to for many years.
Much later, as an Adult Ed
teacher, Ginzburg started teaching Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango
Street, a book about growing up in a Latino neighborhood in Chicago in
the 60s and it touched Ginzburg. "I loved the format- very, very short
stories that could be read by either kids or adults and although there were
repeat characters, the stories didn't really flow from one to another. But
it told the story! Poetically no less. And that, too, inspired me. So
finally, after literally decades of wanting to write my story, a political
writer/friend named Jeff Archer just shamed me into it. 'Writer's write,'
he'd tell me. That kind of thing. Over and over again. And I sat down
during one summer vacation and wrote a story a day. Just jumped in like a
lunatic. Almost 60 stories in 60 days. It was like therapy. When I wrote
that last story about the day I moved from the block, I just cried. It was
like I was reliving it. I spent years polishing it and production etc. al.
and four or so years later, here it is. But some of this is just about the
sheer desire of getting something you believe in "out there."
The memoir chronicles Ginzburg’s
Brooklyn – from getting hassled for his lunch money to playing skully to
watching the Ed Sullivan show with his music-mad mother. "Mother
wasn’t not a groupie," Ginzburg comments, "She didn't sleep with
musicians but she did run around with Tito Puente." And she enjoyed
listening to James Brown and Motown instilling a love of music that remains
with Ginzburg. "Culturally, I'm more like a 60 year-old black guy than
a 46 year-old Jewish guy," he says, "My tastes are more Al Green
and Marvin Gaye.”
Apartment 4B, Like in Brooklyn skillfully captures a Brooklyn that is no more and is
as engaging as it is nostalgic. The cover is a close up of his old
building. "The building has a huge gate in front of it now, like a
fortress," Ginzburg says, "The photographer, Bernard Ente, had to
go inside to get the shot." In addition to the cover photo, Ginzburg
provided personal photos of his family, friends and neighbors that add to
the book’s Brooklyn flavor.
Ginzburg who now lives in
Queens, is especially nostalgic for Brooklyn block parties. "Such a
beautiful thing, all cultures together, Jews, Trinidadians, all
nationalities together. It was a unique Brooklyn experience. You don't see
that in the suburbs. On Long Island, there are people who literally never
go into Manhattan much less Brooklyn. They did the wife, kids, dog, cable
thing. It's fine, but to me, it's vacant culturally."
Today, Ginzburg
teaches and hosts a radio show on WBAI-FM's Light Show (Wednesdays from
2-3pm, and www.wbai.com on the Web). Ginzburg’s diverse Brooklyn
upbringing made him open to reaching out to those who would maybe otherwise
get lost in the shuffle. Ginzburg books talent that he find interesting,
from big bands to various pro wrestlers, comedians and porn stars.
"Interesting people who aren’t one dimensional," he explains. He
writes on his Web site, "I am proud to say that we not only interview
and report on the name groups, but some performers who are virtually unknown.
From the latter, we have offered some of the most astute interviews in the
world. For some reason, the lesser-known talent (not necessarily
lesser-talented) are more open with their words.
Instead of getting a
pre-planned answer written by a publicity guru for a big star, we broadcast
the real emotions and responses of those who have not quite 'made it' in
their field."
People like Greenpoint musician,
Ansel Matthews, a 6'7", 250 pound ex-football player. Says
Ginzburg, "His music is uncategorizable. He does this sensitive,
spiritual music that is so soothing I can't even explain it. And he's the
bouncer at the gigs he plays!"
Ginzburg says, "When you’re
out there doing creative things, not just pursuing money, then interesting
things happen. I’ve never gotten rich but I’m rich from experiences."
To order: "Apartment 4-B,
Like In Brooklyn", send check or money order to: Evan Ginzburg, P.O.
Box 640471, Oakland Gardens Station, Flushing, NY 11364. Price is $14.95 +
$2.00 shipping.
Review by Dann Leonard- Editor Betty
Paginated (Australia)
APARTMENT 4B, LIKE IN BROOKLYN by Evan Ginzburg: What could have been a
wistful look back at one man’s childhood growing up in a culturally and
racially changing neighborhood in New York City, instead ended up being a
painful look at racism, petty crime, random childhood cruelty and school
bullying. Evan – the editor of long-running wrestling nostalgia sheet
Wrestling Then & Now – is a good writer and this short book of
anecdotes certainly held my attention. I just felt quite depressed
afterwards. For every story about Evan’s parents, his wacky friends playing
stickball or reading comics is countered by an unpleasant tale of being
mugged in the street by black kids, beaten up by a gang of Puerto Rican
teenagers or being forced into an all-white class at school for his own
protection from the non-white students. All forms of racism – anti-black,
anti-white, anti-Hispanic, anti-gay, anti-Jew, hell…even anti-Jehovah’s
Witness – are addressed and the overall picture is a very unflattering
portrait of 60s/70s multicultural America. Apartment 4B is available
through mail order from Evan at PO Box 640471, Oakland Gardens Station,
Flushing, NY, 11364, USA for US $14.95 and US $2.50 postage and handling
(add US $5 for overseas orders). It can also be bought by credit card at www.evanginzburg.com and www.wrestlingthenandnow.com
Two Sheds Review
Julian Radbourne (England)
Ginzburg's second
book, Apartment 4B, Like In Brooklyn,
is an autobiographical book, as Ginzburg looks back at his childhood years,
of life growing up in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.
It's a tale of a child growing up in the 1960's and 70's, at a time long
before kids found their entertainment with video games and mobile phones,
and they found enjoyment by playing ball games in the street and in
backyards. Things certainly were a lot easier and simpler back then.
And it's a truly enchanting tale, as Ginzburg tells us about his parents, a
mother who looked after house and home, and a father who worked fourteen
hours a day, six days a week, as a New York cabbie, estimating that he's
driven over a million miles during his life.
Ginzburg also tells of the many influences in his life, which, of course,
also involve professional wrestling, and learning Spanish along the way
while watching Lucha Libre on television. The story of his first ever visit
to Madison Square Garden, to watch his hero Bruno Sammartino, was also
enjoyable.
But it's the stories of his friendships and encounters with other kids in
the neighborhood that make this book. While not wanting to go into to much
detail here, there are tales that will make you laugh and cry, and even
though these events took place over thirty years ago, and you knew things
would turn out fine (otherwise he wouldn't have written this book), you
couldn't help but root for the guy during some of the more troublesome
moments.
In conclusion - a
highly enjoyable read here. Ginzburg manages to the sense of the era
perfectly, and after finishing the book, I began to wonder if Ginzburg ever
got back in touch with any of the friends he made in Brooklyn, and if he
found out what they're doing now.
This is a frequently amusing nostalgic series of essays about
growing up in Brooklyn in the 70s. It is a little cutting edgy, but as such
it captures the spirit.
CULTURAL ICONS LOVE APARTMENT 4B, LIKE IN BROOKLYN
“Apartment 4B, Like in Brooklyn- his
book is a very realistic, easy read about growing up in New York and
reliving times of a bygone era. Once you pick it up you won’t be able to
put it down.”
-Handsome Jimmy Valiant
(Professional Wrestling Legend)
“I must say that
from the time I picked up the book ‘till I finished it that it has made me
think about how I not only see people but how I treat them and what I say
to them. The book was just POWERFUL, a tool if you will on how one can be
affected by words; light hearted and painful all at the same time. I was
laughing and crying all at the same time. I have not picked up a book that
had this kind of impact on me since I read Truman Capote. Thank you just
doesn’t seem to be enough.”
-Seka (Adult film Legend)
Reviews From Amazon.com:
 apartment 4b, like in anywhere, September 7, 2006
Although set in 196o's Brooklyn, this coming of age
story is about feelings of joy , pain, discovery,and growth, that are
universal to us all.Evan paints a portrait of his life as a gentle tough
kid in a racially mixed and consistantly volatile urban environment. He
was an urban Huck Finn with the mean streets of Brooklyn standing in for the
mississippi. His adventures, scrapes, beatings, and occaisional
misdemeanors are endlessly entertaining and will linger in the memory
long after the reader has finished the book. I look forward to the
sequel.
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 It's all about NY , September 1, 2006
I know Evan from Queens, New
York, from when we were teenagers. Evan told me that he spent his
childhood in Brooklyn, but eventually his parents decided to leave the
neighborhood as it got difficult with the times. Evan definitely
addresses the problems that the residents had with each other based
on their differences. I no longer live in New York, but it was
interesting to see how Evan captured the favor of my home. I would
recommend his book, as it is a quick read and it really is like reading a
compile of short stories and incidents.
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Nothing but the truth!!!, August 27, 2006
I grew up in Brooklyn in also one of the toughest
ares,Brownsville. Brooklyn was just as Evan Ginzburg explained. Reading
the book brought back many memories for me some good and some bad but
life was a bit more easier back then. Too bad life isn't more like
stoopball,scully and stickball with your mothers broom handle. Wouldn't
life be better for all?
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An endearing glimpse into a Brooklyn neighborhood's
past, August 27, 2006
I loved this book for two reasons; it was very easy to
read and is such a loving, honest testimonial to Evan's coming of age in
1960s and 70s Brooklyn. Brooklyn is fascinating because of it's history
and this book gives the reader an idea of what this neighborhood went
through during it's changing times by someone who lived it and loved it.
Evan tells why through his memories and photographs which takes the
reader back with him. An endearing memoir of how the neighborhood shaped
the man.
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Apartment 4B, Like in Brooklyn, August 22, 2006
Anyone who has ever grown up in an urban area will
relate to and love this book. I not only laughed but was moved by what I
read. I urge you to read this.
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Apartment 4b, ike in Brooklyn, August 21, 2006
It was an easy, pleasant read. It took me back to a
time when the world was at peace and a neighborhood was sacred. Ginzbug
captures the emotion, respect and love that was present in that era.
Nikita Breznikov.
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Fascinating! A rarity!, August 21, 2006
This book offers a rare look
into the ever changing and somewhat racily charged culture that was/is
Brooklyn. The depiction of a neighboorhood going from white/Jewish to
mixed to what was known as "white flight" is captured
masterfully. No punches are pulled, Mr. Ginzburg is not afraid to show
vulnerability, or to relive difficult times in order to portray childhood
experiences that will strike a chord in all readers. This book can be
compared to the tv series the "Wonder Years" minus the
rose-colored glasses. A must read.
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Growing up in Brooklyn, August 20, 2006
If you lived in Brooklyn, or
want to know what it was like to to grow up in Brooklyn, you'll truly
enjoy reading this book.
A wonderful compilation of short stories relating just some of the
author's life shaping events as he "comes of age" at a time
when Brooklyn was enduring a dramatic demographic change.
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Nostalgia Distilled Into a Small Package, August 20, 2006
We just Finished reading,
APARTMENT 4B, LIKE IN BROOKLYN. It's filled with vignette after vignette
about growing up in Brooklyn in the Late 60s and Early 70s. It will
remind you of growing up in your neighborhood but this is Brooklyn so it
got a few more interesting stories that the rest of us didn't go through.
It's a rather quick but Very entertaining read. You should go visit,
evanginzburg dot com and tell Evan we sent y'all over. You should read
the book too, if you Like these sorts of things.
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ALSO AVAILABLE FROM EVAN GINZBURG
The critically acclaimed:
Hey Cabby- A New York Cab Driver's Million Miles Behind the
Wheel
$4.95 plus $1.00 postage to Evan Ginzburg PO Box 640471 Oakland
Gdns Station Flushing, NY 11364
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