{"product_id":"gowanus-crossing-vincent-coppola-9781250904126","title":"Gowanus Crossing: A Brooklyn Boyhood","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA veteran journalist's gritty, darkly funny memoir about growing up Italian American in 1960s Brooklyn.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMid-century Gowanus: Decades before the Whole Foods went up and the lofts were refurbished, a raucous, unruly, proudly Italian American enclave clings to the banks of the noxious canal. The Mafia and the Catholic Church--two centuries-old, rigidly hierarchical institutions defined by oppressive codes of silence--dominate the neighborhood. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eGowanus Crossing\u003c\/i\u003e, Vincent Coppola brings the world of his childhood ferociously to life. A third generation Italian immigrant, Coppola grew up in old Gowanus, a bookish kid for whom Park Slope, to say nothing of Central Park, might as well have been the moon. His journey through and eventually out of the neighborhood is harrowing, hilarious, and populated with a cast of characters who burst off the page: a four-foot-tall wiseguy who walks a lion on a leash, a predatory priest, mobbed-up undertakers, Coppola's three wayward brothers, and a host of assorted schemers, scammers, mobsters, bookies, gamblers, and certifiable crazies. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCombining Frank McCourt's gimlet eye with the exuberant menace of a Scorsese movie, \u003ci\u003eGowanus Crossing\u003c\/i\u003e captures a lost world in all its glory.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Vincent Coppola\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1250904129\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781250904126\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Henry Holt \u0026amp; Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/09\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.25h x 5.38w x 1.00d","brand":"Vincent Coppola","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":47520198492415,"sku":"9781250904126","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_7420f468-5bd8-47cb-b831-19e12b450304.jpg?v=1762884120","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/gowanus-crossing-vincent-coppola-9781250904126","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}