Wonderland: A Tale of Hustling Hard and Breaking Even

by Nicole Treska

A debut literary memoir reckoning with the costs of starting a new life in a different city amidst a family history of poverty, crime, and addiction.

Genres: Memoir, Audiobook, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Biography

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 9, 2024

About the author

Nicole Treska is the author of the debut memoir Wonderland. Her short fiction has appeared in New York Tyrant magazine, Epiphany literary journal, and Egress: New Openings in Literary Art. Her interviews and reviews are up at Electric Literature, Guernica, The Millions, BOMB, The Rumpus, and then some. She lives in Harlem with her husband, James, and their three-legged dog, Nadine.

Reviews

[♥Milica♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished this a couple of days ago and I still have zero thoughts about it. Zero. The one thing I liked is that the author narrates her own audiobook, and it's short so it's an easy listen. But did I connect with her? No. I really did try to like this, and it's rare that I feel nothing when reading/listening to a memoir, but hey, that happens too. You might like it though.

[Traci Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing in this book is the star for sure. Smooth sentences with a touch of bite. The storytelling is a little disjointed. I never really cared about Treska because I couldn't figure out what story she was telling. The subtitle and cover copy are misleading...it isn't really a story of hustlers so much as of Treska, which is fine, but itsn't what I thought I was getting. I just never felt connected to her or anyone in the family. Good book, if you like a true memoir.

[Pierce Gillette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been excited to read Wonderland since its publication was announced, and I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of the book.

In “Wonderland”, Nicole Treska’s debut memoir, she takes a hard look at life and the ability to rise above circumstance. The author shares stories of her family members and reflects on tales of her own life and upbringing, weaving a beautifully written blanket reflecting on how “you are where you come from.”

Treska’s writing has an ability to make you understand the characters and feel as if you were there watching the story unfold. Her writing speaks to me; is gripping without being too wordy, and left me wanting more. I could read this writing forever.

Brava, Mrs. Treska! I cannot wait to see how the story continues to unfold for you. What an entrance you have made!

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is cathartic, both for Nicole Treska to write and for us to read. She talks of a very specific time in her life with the final transition to adulthood: realizing that, despite all of the growth you’ve undergone as a person, you are more like your family than you realize. It’s a particularly hard realization to have when you live away from your hometown, and especially difficult when your hometown is as tough and demanding as Boston. Trust me - I would know.

Treska’s writing is earnest without being flowery. It’s humbling (and heartbreaking) to read about the people she loved so much who also are the biggest sources of her pain. It’s one thing to know that her parents are affiliated with Whitey Bulger and the Winter Hill gang - it’s another to have them lie and steal to you directly.

Overall an amazing memoir and I look forward to reading more of her work.

Thank you to NetGalley, Nicole Treska, and Simon & Schuester for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Sam Stoddard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC. This book is cool! I’m from New England so the history about Boston and the surrounding areas is interesting. It’s weird to write a review for someone’s autobiography. I can’t really judge their life and thoughts. It’s someone’s experiences and feelings written down for everyone to view and judge. I can only say that I’m glad I got to read about her life!

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Every family has secrets, some darker than others. My interest in Ms. Tresca’s memoir, Wonderland, was sparked by a review in the New York Times Book Review and a penchant for reading about the notorious Winter Hill Gang and its leader, James "Whitey" Bulger. The memoir consists of short vignettes that resemble a collection of essays rather than a traditional memoir, making it easy to read in just a few days. Her mother, Christine, AKA Max, “took bets from East Boston to Southie.” Her father, Phil, "ran numbers and dealt drugs." The most compelling aspect of Ms. Tresca’s story is her fractured relationship with her father, Phil, a drug dealer unopposed to stashing the drugs in her stroller and purported member of the Winter Hill Gang, who used his father’s diner in Somerville as a WHG meeting spot. When her father is arrested and sentenced to serve two years for cocaine distribution in a federal prison, her mother remarries a Naval officer and moves the family out of Massachusetts. As a result, Ms. Tresca grew up in Maine, attended college in Hawaii, and later returned to a vastly changed Somerville. I appreciated her reflections on gentrification and the loss of neighborhood identity, which are often significant in personal narratives. However, the book offers limited insights into the realities of “hustling hard.” Due to her illegal Airbnb rental? By the end, the memoir felt emotionally lacking and failed to convey a genuine understanding of growing up in Boston's criminal underworld, containing several discrepancies. Unfortunately, Wonderland did not leave a lasting impression. 2/5

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried to like this book but failed. I tried to like the people in it but failed. The author is only peripherally from Boston. Yes, maybe she was born there but she spent the majority of her childhood all over the US and her adulthood in NYC. I kind of felt like the drives she took with her father when she came home to visit were to recite the names of the places she knew (Reginas! Kowloons! Kellys!). The book also jumped around. In one paragraph she was in Florida on her mother's couch and in the next fighting with her landlord in NYC. And then back to the couch. The extra star is for any of the Boston stuff. North Shore born and raised, lived in downtown Boston for 18 years and miss it.

[BeeCee Oh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Timeline hard to follow

It wasn’t really about hustling hard scrabble- I mean if you’re off to Hawaii and here and there

Didn’t make a lot of sense in some parts.

No need for politics in the book at all.

[Stefani · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing in this memoir was really well done, I listened to the audiobook and it’s narrated by the author and she does a really wonderful job.

However this jumps all over the place and just had a hard time keeping up with if we were in the past or the present, and the whole time I was listening I was trying to figure out like, why? I’ve read memoirs by people who aren’t celebrities, and they usually have really interesting stories and perspectives from their personal experiences.

I just didn’t really get that from Treksa. There wasn’t one particular thing the memoir focused on. It was her life, and while it was well written, it just wasn’t that interesting.

The writing shines in this, and the 200 page count kept it from being boring. It’s just an okay memoir.

Thank you @netgalley and @simonbooks for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

[Erika St. · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are familiar with Boston, I think it brings an added attraction to this book. I found myself wanting to know more about all the characters and family that she introduced. In fact I felt a little sad when it finished because i wanted to know so much more. While I can understand why some people thought it was disjointed, she always had a reason for diverging and always brought it back together. It part of why I wanted to keep reading.

[JoAnn Stevelos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Currently listening to Wonderland on Audible. Nicole is an excellent reader of this intriguing story. The cast of characters, the attention to geography, the love of family, all woven into a heartbreaking and funny narrative. I'm half way through and already don't want the book to end! Stellar writing!

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicole Treska is a true child of Boston, and this is a fucking fantastic memoir.

[Kennedy Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a fascinating memoir. I loved the Boston references, but it was gritty and sad. I thought it was a good read.

[Emilie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a very hard time connecting with this story, mostly because the timeline was very hard to follow. I normally love memoirs because I like being able to connect to the authors, but I was disappointed to feel zero connection with this one.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very quick listen. I love audible for memoirs especially when the author narrates. I loved Nicole’s voice. It was raw and familiar. At times I was a bit confused about time frame, but overall really enjoyed listening to the story of her life. The end brought me to tears because although it was her story, she made it easy for reader/listener to relate and reflect on their own life and family.

[Amy Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a raw and brave memoir! I absolutely loved it. It was both heartbreaking and hilarious at the same time.

"Were monsters really monsters, or were they merely the product and victims of monsters, too? And what of those monsters? Who made them? Can that absolve? Can anything?". ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Kristine Spanier · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have found yourself simultaneously embracing and escaping your family of origin, you will find much to identify with and appreciate in Nicole Treska’s incredible memoir. The writing is beautiful and the imagery makes you feel like you are there with her in Boston, New York, and more.

[Creighton · Rating 3 out of 5]

​Read this one for my 350H course, not a bad read at all! This is the response I had to it, largely just a little bit slow at the onset but I think it built up pretty well with time.

I originally picked up Treska’s memoir for its proximity to something I would write/had written myself. I grabbed it before I had begun writing my second project but after I’d decided that I was going to write about my family history. And I think this did work fairly well for me as a sort of guide at something I’m trying to do with my second project. She has a focus throughout these shorter memoirs on portraying her family history in as many avenues as possible. Treska writes many of these stories from her perspective and understanding but also looks at perspectives from people outside of her family to make some sense of it all, to posture her family in this book among the greater Boston backdrop. That aspect to this piece works really well, I think. We get some of these characters—namely Phil, Auntie Loretta, and Dennis—from the varied perspectives necessary to understand them as complete people. Not just from Nicole’s.
​In all I did like this memoir, but I do see in it some trends of a personal narrative which I try to avoid in my writing. Some of the messages/deeper meanings to different points come across as slightly heavy-handed at times. It makes sense, I think, in a memoir to have a line which just lays out a big summation of something. We write our stories out in order to make sense of them, and getting out those feelings and thoughts in one sentence can be a pretty cathartic act. I just think sometimes it lends to the piece for an author to let their reader get that summation out of everything they provide on the page. It came about mostly in the first two chapters of this book and I think that’s just something I try to weed out in my personal revision process, I want the reader to get my work’s sort of one-sentence-moral-summary on their own.
​Treska uses the Turk throughout this memoir in, I think, a really intuitive way that I wonder how I can use in more of my work. Having this character who means a lot to her, clearly, but who is fairly vague in description to the audience creates a really great backdrop for portraying some different ideas. He is not a family member part of or impacted by these family stories. He’s not living in Boston (or Massachusetts for that matter) and has some degree of separation from that world she describes. The Turk is a great way to incorporate these ideas of nuanced romantic relationships and conversations around political commentary in a work which is primarily not concerned with them. Those themes and ideas feel natural in the scenes he is a part of and I think that outlet to make a digression from the family saga is super smart. I wonder now, as I look back to my DeMoura Mosaic piece, if there’s a way to produce that same space for myself. I wouldn’t use it necessarily for digression like Treska does—my shorter length doesn’t allow for that I don’t think—but I could use some sort of distraction from the DeMoura of it all to bring myself into the work a little bit more which some people in class had asked for in their feedback.

[Glen · Rating 5 out of 5]

In her electrifying debut memoir, Nicole Treska takes us on a whirlwind journey through the gritty underbelly of modern America, painting a vivid portrait of a generation caught between family legacies and personal aspirations. "Wonderland" is a raw, unflinching look at the struggle to find one's place in a world that seems increasingly stacked against the dreamer.

Treska's prose crackles with energy, her descriptions of Boston's working-class neighborhoods so visceral you can almost smell the motor oil and hear the distant roar of jets. But it's in New York where her narrative truly soars, capturing the frenetic pulse of a city that "loved a fun fuckup willing to try."

With refreshing candor, Treska lays bare her life as a triple-threat hustler – adjunct professor, waitress, and Airbnb host – all while pursuing her dreams of love and literary success. Her voice is conversational yet razor-sharp, effortlessly weaving together tales of family dysfunction, romantic misadventures, and the Sisyphean task of making rent in the Big Apple.

What sets "Wonderland" apart is Treska's ability to connect her personal struggles to larger societal issues. Through her romance with "The Turk," she explores geopolitics and global authoritarianism. Her battles with greedy developers in Harlem become a microcosm of gentrification's toll on American cities.

Treska's writing is at its most powerful when she grapples with the concept of home and identity. As she hopscotches across the country – from Texas to Hawaii to New York – we feel her restlessness and her yearning for belonging. It's a quintessentially American journey, one that will resonate with anyone who's ever felt caught between their roots and their ambitions.

"Wonderland" is not just a memoir; it's a generational manifesto, a Gen X "Nickel and Dimed" for the gig economy era. Treska's unflagging hustle in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds is both inspiring and heartbreaking, a testament to the resilience of the human spirit in an age of precarity.

Dense yet immersive, this slim volume packs decades of life experience into its pages. Treska's pacing is impeccable, her storytelling alternately hilarious and harrowing. From family trauma to failed relationships to the constant grind of making ends meet, no aspect of her life is off-limits.

Ultimately, "Wonderland" is a love letter to the art of reinvention, to the stubborn hope that keeps us running even when the odds are stacked against us. It's a memoir for our moment – honest, vulnerable, and utterly captivating. Treska may not have found her Gatsby-esque reinvention or Ripley-style evolution, but in crafting this remarkable debut, she's created something far more valuable: a brutally honest portrait of life on the margins of the American Dream.

[Angie Miale · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, what do you think? Can people change? And do they need to change in order to be loved?

Nicole treska's memoir represents a new voice in American memoir, it is transparent without being nostalgic. Her inner voice remembers things from her childhood within the context of her present. Some things seem normal while we are growing up, but looking back, we realize how this memory represents what was different about our upbringing. Nicole's grandmother pressing a freezing cold emerald ring into her hand, the bevel intenting her palm, telling her to keep it a secret, a "gift" from her uncle, who hid stolen jewelry in ice cream boxes in the freezer. This is the kind of description that stays with you.

The Treska's range from outright felons to "the check is in the mail" kind of folks. And as an adult we can reconcile what we want to carry with us into our adulthood and what we are okay with letting go with grace.

This short memoir is big on long, interesting descriptive passages and brilliant sentence construction. This is Nicole's piece from a writing workshop, and I can tell it has been lovingly edited and re-edited until the sentences are just...so. She is presenting this as telling us what was different about her childhood, but I think the theme missed the mark just a bit. I would rather relate to her instead of her explaining to me over and over again how her experience was unique. I think so much of the story could have been instead presented as relatable rather than othering.

Willing to bet her next book will be the better read, and I will definitely read it. She is an amazing writer who hasn't quite found what she wants to say.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is a little bit hard for me to review, because while I loved the way Treska writes, the structure of this was just all over the map for me. I would have loved for this to be a little bit more linear in the storytelling. Because there was so much jumping back and forth, I had a hard time remembering the timelines and who the different people were. I also felt disconnected from the people in it because I couldn't keep track of their histories. I think I would have loved this book if it had been chronological.

I get that this wasn't meant to be a traditional memoir, but more of a slice of life from the history of her family. Having been to Boston a few years back, my favorite part was her accounts of places I've actually been to. But it just didn't feel like there was enough meat to dig into in this. Maybe a more traditional account of the different members of her family (and less about her romantic life) might have sunk in more from me. It was the perfect length though for this type of writing style. I would still probably read other things by Treska in the future, because I do think she's really talented. This one just didn't work for me.

*Free ARC provided by Netgalley and Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review*

[Cat S · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I received an email for the advance readers club for this book, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. The book was everything I had hoped it would be. Conversational prose and brute honesty are woven together to become the rough but beautiful cloth that this book lays before the reader.
I read this book in a matter of days, because I could not put it down. It feels like stepping out of a noisy bar onto a patio for a smoke with a newfound friend. The author’s ability to present a fully human version of her family is a testament to her love for them, despite their faults.
By the end of the book you have to remind yourself that these are not characters in the literary sense, but characters in the literal sense, people who’s life and escapades feel at times, larger than life.
This memoir was so refreshing in its honesty and humility. As someone who has also hustled with multiple gigs and scraped by- I felt that it was a special nod to working class folks. A reminder that we can struggle for change and progress in our lives, while never losing sight of our origins.

[Carey Calvert · Rating 5 out of 5]

With as fascinating a cover as this extraordinary debut memoir from CUNY writing instructor, Nicole Treska; just one of the connections I have with the author, and that’s important, these moments of reflection: I attended a CUNY school, and one of my favorite movies is The Departed, and Treska’s family had (have?) ties to Whitey Bulger, the infamous mobster characterized by Jack Nicholson as Frank Costello, a more amenable name, where words like “townie” and “southie” somehow stick, and become lexicon to a widening culture, at once cool, and exclusive.

But Bostonians also know fire and flames as depicted in Treska’s Wonderland, also an old beachside amusement park that Treska’s family treated like magic, its influence as well as that of Treska’s family, much bigger than its brief existence.

We’re introduced to Treska’s father, Phil, habitual line stepper, gambler, profligate and occasional drug trafficker yet funny, and with the proverbial heart of gold, and that’s the closest we get to cliché (but there are no cliches here).

At least not anymore.

And her Uncle Dennis who succumbs to drug addiction, but this poignant memoir refuses to seek redemption. Everything is matter of fact. Of course, Phil robbed and led cops on a high-speed chase that got his friend killed.

Throughout, Treska appears out of the picture, a keen observer who watches these rites of passage without affectation, spurred on by hustling harder and breaking even as the book's subtitle suggests. When the memoir focuses on its author, we see her actions reflect her environment and upbringing although she fights gallantly against it.

Wonderland is grand and worthy – the truth of the place and the book remains because Boston was and is full of thieves and stick-up guys. Enough to drive the narrative full throttle where if you got took, “it’s on you buddy, you shoulda known ‘bettah.’”

Treska’s is a family full of runners from a city of runners where “we move and set up somewhere safe and make ourselves real until we have to do it again.”

Haunting and riveting and sentimental (iykyk), Wonderland is a trip down one writer’s memory lane whose family suffered through mental illness, addiction, and a touch of the criminal element – an All-American memoir that reminds us that we, spectacular, lit up by hope and fantasy, were Wonderland too.

[Darcia Helle · Rating 2 out of 5]

The entire time I listened to this memoir, I kept thinking, “What's the point of all this?”

I finished, and I still don't know the answer.

Treska tells her story in vignettes, little snapshots of moments in a life. The timeline is all over the place. Consequently, her story feels disjointed, and it's nearly impossible to follow or make sense of things.

Treska is brutally honest, but not all that insightful. We don't do any sort of deep dive. I'm not sure if we–or she–learn anything of relevance along the way.

The author narrates the audiobook, and for me this was another case in which a professional should have done it. The experience is very much like listening to a person read a book, which is much different than being immersed in a story.

*I received a free audiobook download from Simon Audio and a free ebook download from Simon and Schuster.*

[Lissa00 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written memoir about Treska’s fascinating and trouble family. It’s strength is in the descriptions of place, Boston, New York City, Hawaii, Florida. You feel these places viscerally while reading this book. Treska also examines family and how her own messy and complicated family lives within her even when she tries to separate herself from them. For such a short book, this isn’t a fast read but one to slowly read and enjoy the language. I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.

[Courtney Elizabeth Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writer astounds me with her ability to transport the reader directly into scenes of her wild ride through life. Things most of us can only imagine from the outside, she gives a panoptical view of, daringly and generously allowing us an exposé behind what most of us only read about in the news. Her ability to humanize characters — outside of the headlines they make — lends to an intimacy otherwise unmatched. These pages almost turn themselves: this high-stakes love letter to the about place and belonging. Nicole, thank you for whispering your heart to the world. 💛🙏🏼🥹

[F.M Papaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every memoir is about place & family in some way or another. But the way Nicole Treska wrote Wonderland, I felt both of these entities so familiar to me despite her being a stranger. The way this book was written, feels like home itself, the good, the bad and the ugly. It had such intentional parameters of exploration and it covered that ground with a natural pace that was authentic & honest. Was really inspired by this book, could have finished it in a few days but really wanted to make it last. I'd love to see more from this author!

[Alana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love getting a peek into a life so different from mine. Treska is a great storyteller and I enjoyed her memoir. Her observations are wise and witty. My favorite parts were about her family and her dad. The NYC rent issues were less interesting but they lent context to her overall sense of grasping for survival and a different kind of life. I enjoyed her narration—this memoir will make you feel as though you’re hearing her life story over a beer in a dive bar.

Thank you to @simon.audio for this review copy. The opinions are my own.

[Lexi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick and candid memoir folllowing the rough-and-tumble life of Nicole Treska, Army brat and daughter of a "mobster-adjacent" father from Boston. I enjoyed the story fine -- it was straightforward and honest, but also felt a bit drawn-out for being as short as it was, I didn't get the sense that the journey or story arc was particularly well-defined -- it felt more like a snapshot in time, if that makes sense. Some fun pieces about a unique, somewhat dysfunctional, and (to use her word) "mouthy" family though!

[Eve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicole creates an emotional and heartbreaking portrait of family history as she collects fragments of memory, fact, and fabrication to find herself. Struggling with a longing for homecoming to a place she no longer wants to live in, she recounts her tumultuous relationship to the city of Boston and her family tree that extends its roots deep into its troubled neighborhoods.