The Bronx in Paperback...hardcover and digital.
No one really knows what the Bronx is all about until you've lived here. The movies, the news headlines and the statics rarely tell us the full story. Here we have two books with the same premise written by two different groups of people.
Bronx Memoir Project features first hand accounts of Bronxites that were given an opportunity though the Bronx Council of Arts to attend free memoir-writing workshops. The stories were written by both Native Bronxites and people who emigrated to the Bronx.
“An amazing harvest of Bronx stories that bubble with bravado, pulse with pathos and shimmer with color. From traversing tenement hallways to gazing from rooftops, from burning landscapes to blazing sunsets, this chorus of over fifty voices belts a powerful ode to the Bronx- its checkered past and brilliant future. ”
Just Kids from the Bronx features A-Listers like Al Pacino, Colin Powell, and Neil deGrasse Tyson recounting their life in the Bronx. Arlene Alda, author of the book states that the book took her four years to complete and she simply started off by making calls.
“The vivid oral histories in Arlene Alda’s Just Kids from the Bronx reveal what it was like to grow up in the place that bred the influencers in just about every field of endeavor today. The Bronx is where Michael Kay, the New York Yankees’ play-by-play broadcaster, first experienced baseball, where J. Crew’s CEO Millard (Mickey) Drexler found his ambition, where Neil deGrasse Tyson and Dava Sobel fell in love with science early on and where music-making inspired hip hop’s Grandmaster Melle Mel to change the world of music forever.”
Both books seem fascinating and the dichotomy of their existence make it all that more special. The Bronx, like the authors of these books is multifaceted. There is poverty and decay, but there is also a richness and authenticity about us and our borough that cannot be duplicated. Bronx Memoir Project will have a book release tomorrow December 3 at Hostos, for more information check our events page. The book is available now through Amazon and for Kindle and Nook downloads. Just Kids from the Bronx will be available through Amazon on March 3, 2015; options include audio cd, kindle and hardcover.
Click here to see our growing list of Notable Bronxites. Email or comment to nominate a Notable Bronxite!