New Moon

by Richard Grossinger

The grandson of famed Catskill resort owner Jennie Grossinger, Richard Grossinger grew up in a Manhattan apartment with his mother, stepfather, brother and sister and attended private schools. In this affecting, gracefully written memoir, Grossinger details his unhappy childhood, which was punctuated by episodes of panic. His mother so resented his attachment to his father, Paul, with whom he lived at Jennie Grossinger's resort during school vacations, that she consistently behaved as though she hated Richard and publicly favored his brother. Observing his son's emotional distress, Paul arranged for Richard to undergo Freudian psychoanalysis, an experience that he describes here. The author skillfully evokes the world of '50s New York and Grossinger's Catskills as well as the counterculture of the '60s, which he was drawn to while attending Amherst College.

598 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Tom Leland · Rating 2 out of 5]

An acquaintance of my sister's, and this book a gift from her, I had to read it. I also struck up a bit of an email correspondence with the author, not only because of my sister's connection, but also because my dad worked at Grossinger's in the 20s, where he met Mae West and Danny Kaye.

There are many good things in this book -- and I'm generally interested in New Yorkers born around when he was, the early 40s -- such people have lived an amazing journey through American eras. It's a bonus when they're a baseball fan.

But this thing is just far too self-indulgent -- he writes inside himself, often seemingly without even a glance at his words through his readers' eyes. Perhaps for the same reason, there are word choices that were simply mystifying, leaving me with no idea what he was getting at in a particular sentence.

Also, during his college years it gets very esoteric -- in quite a few passages I simply couldn't follow.

He'd clearly be a fantastic guy to be stranded on an island with, for conversation and his rich mind -- but I'm now scared to try any of his other books.