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Bitter Bronx
In Bitter Bronx, one of our most gifted and original novelists depicts a world before and after modern urban renewal destroyed the gritty sanctity of a land made famous by Ruth, Gehrig, and Joltin' Joe.
Bitter Bronx is suffused with the texture and nostalgia of a lost time and place, combining a keen eye for detail with Jerome Charyn's lived experience. These stories are informed by a childhood growing up near that middle-class mecca, the Grand Concourse; falling in love with three voluptuous librarians at a public library in the Lower Depths of the South Bronx; and eating at Mafia-owned restaurants along Arthur Avenue's restaurant row, amid a "land of deprivation…where fathers trundled home…with a monumental sadness on their shoulders."
In "Lorelei," a lonely hearts grifter returns home and finds his childhood sweetheart still living in the same apartment house on the Concourse; in "Archy and Mehitabel" a high school romance blossoms around a newspaper comic strip; in "Major Leaguer" a former New York Yankee confronts both a gang of drug dealers and the wreckage that Robert Moses wrought in his old neighborhood; and in three interconnected stories—"Silk Silk," "Little Sister," and "Marla"—Marla Silk, a successful Manhattan attorney, discovers her father's past in the Bronx and a mysterious younger sister who was hidden from her, kept in a fancy rest home near the Botanical Garden. In these stories and others, the past and present tumble together in Charyn's singular and distinctly "New York prose, street-smart, sly, and full of lurches" (John Leonard, New York Times).
Throughout it all looms the "master builder" Robert Moses, a man who believed he could "save" the Bronx by building a highway through it, dynamiting whole neighborhoods in the process. Bitter Bronx stands as both a fictional eulogy for the people and places paved over by Moses' expressway and an affirmation of Charyn's "brilliant imagination" (Elizabeth Taylor, Chicago Tribune).
Bitter Bronx is suffused with the texture and nostalgia of a lost time and place, combining a keen eye for detail with Jerome Charyn's lived experience. These stories are informed by a childhood growing up near that middle-class mecca, the Grand Concourse; falling in love with three voluptuous librarians at a public library in the Lower Depths of the South Bronx; and eating at Mafia-owned restaurants along Arthur Avenue's restaurant row, amid a "land of deprivation…where fathers trundled home…with a monumental sadness on their shoulders."
In "Lorelei," a lonely hearts grifter returns home and finds his childhood sweetheart still living in the same apartment house on the Concourse; in "Archy and Mehitabel" a high school romance blossoms around a newspaper comic strip; in "Major Leaguer" a former New York Yankee confronts both a gang of drug dealers and the wreckage that Robert Moses wrought in his old neighborhood; and in three interconnected stories—"Silk Silk," "Little Sister," and "Marla"—Marla Silk, a successful Manhattan attorney, discovers her father's past in the Bronx and a mysterious younger sister who was hidden from her, kept in a fancy rest home near the Botanical Garden. In these stories and others, the past and present tumble together in Charyn's singular and distinctly "New York prose, street-smart, sly, and full of lurches" (John Leonard, New York Times).
Throughout it all looms the "master builder" Robert Moses, a man who believed he could "save" the Bronx by building a highway through it, dynamiting whole neighborhoods in the process. Bitter Bronx stands as both a fictional eulogy for the people and places paved over by Moses' expressway and an affirmation of Charyn's "brilliant imagination" (Elizabeth Taylor, Chicago Tribune).
224 pages, Hardcover
First published June 15, 2015
About the author
Jerome Charyn
231 books234 followersJerome Charyn is an award-winning American author. With more than 50 published works, Charyn has earned a long-standing reputation as an inventive and prolific chronicler of real and imagined American life.
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon calls him "one of the most important writers in American literature." New York Newsday hailed Charyn as "a contemporary American Balzac," and the Los Angeles Times described him as "absolutely unique among American writers."
Since the 1964 release of Charyn's first novel, Once Upon a Droshky, he has published thirty novels, three memoirs, eight graphic novels, two books about film, short stories, plays, and works of non-fiction. Two of his memoirs were named New York Times Book of the Year.
Charyn has been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. He received the Rosenthal Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was named Commander of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture. Charyn is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Film Studies at the American University of Paris.
In addition to writing and teaching, Charyn is a tournament table tennis player, once ranked in the top ten percent of players in France. Noted novelist Don DeLillo called Charyn's book on table tennis, Sizzling Chops & Devilish Spins, "The Sun Also Rises of ping-pong."
Charyn's most recent novel, Jerzy, was described by The New Yorker as a "fictional fantasia" about the life of Jerzy Kosinski, the controversial author of The Painted Bird. In 2010, Charyn wrote The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson, an imagined autobiography of the renowned poet, a book characterized by Joyce Carol Oates as a "fever-dream picaresque."
Charyn lives in New York City. He's currently working with artists Asaf and Tomer Hanuka on an animated television series based on his Isaac Sidel crime novels.
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon calls him "one of the most important writers in American literature." New York Newsday hailed Charyn as "a contemporary American Balzac," and the Los Angeles Times described him as "absolutely unique among American writers."
Since the 1964 release of Charyn's first novel, Once Upon a Droshky, he has published thirty novels, three memoirs, eight graphic novels, two books about film, short stories, plays, and works of non-fiction. Two of his memoirs were named New York Times Book of the Year.
Charyn has been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. He received the Rosenthal Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was named Commander of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture. Charyn is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Film Studies at the American University of Paris.
In addition to writing and teaching, Charyn is a tournament table tennis player, once ranked in the top ten percent of players in France. Noted novelist Don DeLillo called Charyn's book on table tennis, Sizzling Chops & Devilish Spins, "The Sun Also Rises of ping-pong."
Charyn's most recent novel, Jerzy, was described by The New Yorker as a "fictional fantasia" about the life of Jerzy Kosinski, the controversial author of The Painted Bird. In 2010, Charyn wrote The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson, an imagined autobiography of the renowned poet, a book characterized by Joyce Carol Oates as a "fever-dream picaresque."
Charyn lives in New York City. He's currently working with artists Asaf and Tomer Hanuka on an animated television series based on his Isaac Sidel crime novels.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
May 24, 2015
The best short story collections read like previews of the best writers you will ever find. The Dubliners by James Joyce or The Piazza Tales by Melville, for instance. You can add Bitter Bronx to that list.
I've been a hopeless devotee to Jerome Charyn for a number of years now, and I'm always looking for that one book that will most easily recommend his considerable talent to others. As I've suggested, this is it. Here is encapsulated all his best instincts, in narratives that are fully realized in their abbreviated tales but indicative of what you will find in a full-length story from one of his books. Because the focus is on his native soil (amply represented though not exclusively throughout Charyn's fiction), there's no mistaking that he himself considers this material close to heart.
So, what exactly is the Jerome Charyn story? His formative years thrust Charyn deep into the heart of the American landscape. Whereas the myth usually exists somewhere on the frontier, the heart is where civilizations clash. That's what America has been about throughout its history, from the era of discovery and exploration to the days of expansion and immigration. What Charyn zeroes in on is the idea that was embodied in a book I read in college entitled The Unredeemed Captive. For Charyn, redemption is an everyday struggle fraught with opportunities that more often than not, even when looking like success has been achieved, is at best a temporary phenomenon. That is to say, Charyn is not a pessimist or optimist, but a realist. It just so happens that he grew up in a place where all of America's subsequent fictions about itself took shape. And he fully exploits this...
The hard lives on display in Bitter Bronx do little to flatter its population of characters. Charyn is the last writer of respectable whores, perhaps the only one. I don't know. But the lead in three of the stories, Marla Silk, is perhaps the most successful and least damaged character...whose world crumbles when she meets a sister her family tried desperately to hide. Charyn has no class sympathies. He sees everyone flawed in the same ways. It's why he can return to the same types over and over again, such as the unnaturally tall man or the redheads who so often torment his love stories. It's as if Charyn sees America as the land Shakespeare envisioned in his nightmares.
And yes, Jerome Charyn is the American Dickens, but Charyn's orphans are never so lucky, and maybe that lack of feel-good has been what's made him so hard to discover. But if you admire literature, discover Charyn you must.
I've been a hopeless devotee to Jerome Charyn for a number of years now, and I'm always looking for that one book that will most easily recommend his considerable talent to others. As I've suggested, this is it. Here is encapsulated all his best instincts, in narratives that are fully realized in their abbreviated tales but indicative of what you will find in a full-length story from one of his books. Because the focus is on his native soil (amply represented though not exclusively throughout Charyn's fiction), there's no mistaking that he himself considers this material close to heart.
So, what exactly is the Jerome Charyn story? His formative years thrust Charyn deep into the heart of the American landscape. Whereas the myth usually exists somewhere on the frontier, the heart is where civilizations clash. That's what America has been about throughout its history, from the era of discovery and exploration to the days of expansion and immigration. What Charyn zeroes in on is the idea that was embodied in a book I read in college entitled The Unredeemed Captive. For Charyn, redemption is an everyday struggle fraught with opportunities that more often than not, even when looking like success has been achieved, is at best a temporary phenomenon. That is to say, Charyn is not a pessimist or optimist, but a realist. It just so happens that he grew up in a place where all of America's subsequent fictions about itself took shape. And he fully exploits this...
The hard lives on display in Bitter Bronx do little to flatter its population of characters. Charyn is the last writer of respectable whores, perhaps the only one. I don't know. But the lead in three of the stories, Marla Silk, is perhaps the most successful and least damaged character...whose world crumbles when she meets a sister her family tried desperately to hide. Charyn has no class sympathies. He sees everyone flawed in the same ways. It's why he can return to the same types over and over again, such as the unnaturally tall man or the redheads who so often torment his love stories. It's as if Charyn sees America as the land Shakespeare envisioned in his nightmares.
And yes, Jerome Charyn is the American Dickens, but Charyn's orphans are never so lucky, and maybe that lack of feel-good has been what's made him so hard to discover. But if you admire literature, discover Charyn you must.
May 26, 2015
If you've ever been to the Bronx, go home in these stories. If you missed this wonderful terrible place, read Bitter Bronx. You'll be enriched and enchanted - with intrigue, mystery and romance - and just great writing.
I didn't grow up in the Bronx, but my brother did. My half-brother. I was the only child I knew whose father had been married before, unheard of in our Westchester community, where daddies went to work in 'the City' and mommies stayed home (although kids didn't - we were told to "go out and play; be home by dark.")
But on many weekends I journeyed to the exotic world of the Grand Concourse, to visit my brother's little apartment, where I watched in awe when his mother, a Russian queen named Clara, uncurled braids wrapped around her head to brush black curls that fell to the ground. Relatives on her side of the family dropped by to stare at me - the child of her ex-husband's indiscretion - but they were kind and gave me bliny, caviar, bubliki, honey, and tea in a samovar, and took me on neighborhood walks to the synagogue and musicales.
I had almost forgotten those days until I picked up Jerome Charyn's Bitter Bronx. When I read the stories, I felt like a child again, peeking from behind heavy curtains to watch rituals from far away and long ago.
July 21, 2015
Having previously reviewed UNDER THE EYE OF GOD by Jerome Charyn, I was already aware of the intense hold that the Bronx of his childhood has on his imagination. As he writes in the "Author's Note" to BITTER BRONX:
I realized that I had been shaped as a writer not with the words I didn’t have, not with lavish pencil cases, not with library books I had never borrowed, but with some ghost’s vocabulary. I’d filled that amorphous void of the South Bronx with my own imagination.
There is both nostalgia and comedy in BITTER BRONX, and it is written in Charyn's lyrical prose that speaks of eyes bleeding “the viscous color of tears” and of Jackson Pollock's paintings “with their lashing rhythm, as if colors could cry out," to give only two examples of his lyricism.
The thirteen stories in this book are populated by an exotic blend of characters who surprise us with their eccentricities at the same time as they touch us with their unrequited love, losses, and thwarted dreams. There is Lorelei, who lives with her father in a Bronx apartment, never able to move beyond its sad confines. There is the story of Adonis, which is particularly poignant in its depiction of the lonely mob widows who are never able to feel loved once again. There are three stories of the Silks, reminiscent of Salinger's fictional and dysfunctional families. In “The Major Leaguer,” we are reminded of Charyn's abiding interest in the players of a lost era of greatness who emerged from the Bronx such as Joe DiMaggio, the subject of Charyn's book, Joe Dimaggio: The Long Vigil. And, in the background, as in Under the Eye of God, outside forces conspire to destroy the author's beloved Bronx through development and land grabs. The shadow of Robert Moses is felt in each of these stories, a man who created a highway that irrevocably divided the Bronx into north and south.
BITTER BRONX will appeal to fans of Charyn's Isaac Sidel series, short story lovers in general, and those readers seeking a refreshing book with unconventional prose and colorful characters brought lovingly to life.
I realized that I had been shaped as a writer not with the words I didn’t have, not with lavish pencil cases, not with library books I had never borrowed, but with some ghost’s vocabulary. I’d filled that amorphous void of the South Bronx with my own imagination.
There is both nostalgia and comedy in BITTER BRONX, and it is written in Charyn's lyrical prose that speaks of eyes bleeding “the viscous color of tears” and of Jackson Pollock's paintings “with their lashing rhythm, as if colors could cry out," to give only two examples of his lyricism.
The thirteen stories in this book are populated by an exotic blend of characters who surprise us with their eccentricities at the same time as they touch us with their unrequited love, losses, and thwarted dreams. There is Lorelei, who lives with her father in a Bronx apartment, never able to move beyond its sad confines. There is the story of Adonis, which is particularly poignant in its depiction of the lonely mob widows who are never able to feel loved once again. There are three stories of the Silks, reminiscent of Salinger's fictional and dysfunctional families. In “The Major Leaguer,” we are reminded of Charyn's abiding interest in the players of a lost era of greatness who emerged from the Bronx such as Joe DiMaggio, the subject of Charyn's book, Joe Dimaggio: The Long Vigil. And, in the background, as in Under the Eye of God, outside forces conspire to destroy the author's beloved Bronx through development and land grabs. The shadow of Robert Moses is felt in each of these stories, a man who created a highway that irrevocably divided the Bronx into north and south.
BITTER BRONX will appeal to fans of Charyn's Isaac Sidel series, short story lovers in general, and those readers seeking a refreshing book with unconventional prose and colorful characters brought lovingly to life.
June 8, 2015
This was a tough one for me to read. Had I grown up in the Bronx, or lived in New York where I was more familiar with its history, I might have made better connections to this book. Instead I felt disconnected. I was able to get a sense of what life in the Bronx was like and the changes it went through after Robert Moses split it in two. I have to agree that the changes were not for the best. I know my first husband came from the Bronx and his parents would talk about their reasoning for living was how bad it had grown and how gang filled it had become. His writing was wonderful to read. It made me long to see the Bronx before the expressway went through cutting areas in half. It almost reminded me of the Berlin Wall that cut off the two sides. Each side grew in a different way and at a different rate. Sometimes the things we do in the name of progress have the opposite effect. The division created is one that has been a struggle for years and will continue for many more to come. This was an honest look at what once was, what it is now and hopefully a glimpse into what it may become one day.
I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
June 19, 2015
Bitter Bronx is another fine literary achievement from the talented pen of Jerome Charyn. With this collection of thirteen stories, Charyn depicts a Bronx forever changed by Robert Moses and his destruction of the borough he believed he could rescue by dividing it with a highway, destroying entire neighborhoods in his quest.
Charyn's ability to evoke such strong emotions through his characters is second to none and his eloquent prose draws you in from the start. These characters are flawed in such a way that you wish to close the book and tuck it away; but like the scene of a horrific accident, you can't help but peer into these people's lives as they struggle against poverty, greed, perversions, and organized crime. This is a world of war widows and mobsters, of insanity and depression, of a Bronx forever divided into north and south.
Every word of this collection shouts New York: what I've come to love, what intrigues me as I walk its streets, what makes me shake my head in confusion.
Charyn remains one of the greatest and most influential literary geniuses of our time.
Highly recommended.
Charyn's ability to evoke such strong emotions through his characters is second to none and his eloquent prose draws you in from the start. These characters are flawed in such a way that you wish to close the book and tuck it away; but like the scene of a horrific accident, you can't help but peer into these people's lives as they struggle against poverty, greed, perversions, and organized crime. This is a world of war widows and mobsters, of insanity and depression, of a Bronx forever divided into north and south.
Every word of this collection shouts New York: what I've come to love, what intrigues me as I walk its streets, what makes me shake my head in confusion.
Charyn remains one of the greatest and most influential literary geniuses of our time.
Highly recommended.
May 5, 2015
I had a lot of difficulty getting into and through this book. In fact, in all honesty, I could not make through more than three fourths of the book, and even getting that far required a lot of determination and stick-with-it resolve. The author writes very well I just could not figure out who the audience was or whether the stores were somehow tied together (except that they took place in Bronx and a lot mentioned the Arts school attended. However, I saw little relevance to me in them, and many of the stories seemed more like a stream of conscious on the part of the author rather than stories. It was interesting to read about people who lived in the Bronx, but I found most of the characters and their stories unusual or just plain weird. In some cases, there really were no stories, just descriptions and activities about people, put down on paper. I guess I missed something in the book or in the author’s lengthy intro. Perhaps someone else would enjoy or better relate to and/or understand them. I really did not.
May 28, 2015
I have been reading these stories over the past few days.. so far, especially enjoying "Dee", "White Trash", "Adonis" and"Major Leaguer".. Well I like all of them. Surprises, twists and turns, vivid language..combining to fashion unforgettable tales.. Looking forward to reading them all now and again and again..
Perfect little gems of stories.
Three more stories to read and I like each one better than the last one.. "Archy and Mehitabel".. Loved it.. "Alice's Eyes". The little perfect book of short stories sits by my chair- a comfort to know it's there.
Perfect little gems of stories.
Three more stories to read and I like each one better than the last one.. "Archy and Mehitabel".. Loved it.. "Alice's Eyes". The little perfect book of short stories sits by my chair- a comfort to know it's there.
June 17, 2015
each story better than the previous and my favorite was "Princess Hannah"
June 11, 2017
These stories started out strong, but towards the end I was just kinda reading to finish. All in all it is a quick read and there were some 4 star worthy stories, do not regret checking it out, and it was interesting to read about The Bronx from an era gone by.
May 31, 2017
BB shows the Bronx as a great place to grow up until Robert Moses dynamited whole neighborhoods and cut the city in half. These 13 stores are raw, poignant and blessed with grit.
June 21, 2018
Brilliant Exploration of New Yorkers
March 23, 2021
Stories of an overlooked borough told with color and character.
July 1, 2021
Several beauties in this somewhat hit-and-miss collection of short stories, all of which feature a connection to the Bronx.
July 30, 2025
13 short stories about the Bronx: an odd assortment of wounded and lost people.
This man can write!
This man can write!
June 19, 2015
I’ve never found Charyn’s writing straightforward or easy to read. When I first read one of his novels several years ago, I found that I needed to acquire a taste for his writing style. It took some effort but it was worth persevering. His storytelling style in this collection is best described as picaresque: the plot is often episodic rather than unfolding in a linear manner and many of the characters are likeable rogues in a corrupt society.
One of the most distinctive traits of Charyn’s writing is how he uses language. In his interview regarding his novel Johnny One-eye on my blog, Ascroft, eh? he said that he grew up in the Bronx having no language. He had no idea newspapers such as the New York Times existed. His friendship with several librarians in a South Bronx library introduced him to the world of words and literature. From these early encounters, he developed a love of words, which fostered his own unique writing style. Often his prose seems to ramble along, tumbling together his characters’ thoughts as well as the unfolding action. His descriptions of people and places are vivid, aided by unusual metaphors and ornate language.
Characters and settings seem to interest Charyn more than the plot of the story. His characters are always unusual, often beguiling but with dark currents never too far beneath the surface. They are diverse, each with a unique, captivating voice. Like other aspects of his work, his characters are rarely straightforward. They are complex, motivated by a plethora of values and desires that often war with each other. They are also duplicitous with each other and the reader, leaving the reader wondering what to believe in the narrative.
Place is important in Charyn’s writing and nowhere more so than in this collection of stories. Set in the Bronx, these stories are conjured from the writer’s memories of his boyhood home and, no doubt, this helps to bring the place to life. The stories are mainly set in 1940s gangster run New York City, a world of violence and opulence with a moral code all its own. They evoke this place and time vividly and fondly. Despite the brutality of the criminal underworld, it is a place of lavish excess and vitality. The place and the people are larger than life.
In my interview with Charyn regarding Johnny One-eye, he said, “Fiction often has a greater truth than most historical texts…Novelists see history as story. We’re not burdened by ‘inaccuracies’.” I think this is how the reader should approach Charyn’s short story collection: suspend disbelief and enjoy the language that spills onto the page and the world the author creates. Charyn’s writing style may not appeal to every reader but it is worth giving it a try to discover the delights of his stories.
Note: I received a free copy of the story collection in exchange for an honest review.
One of the most distinctive traits of Charyn’s writing is how he uses language. In his interview regarding his novel Johnny One-eye on my blog, Ascroft, eh? he said that he grew up in the Bronx having no language. He had no idea newspapers such as the New York Times existed. His friendship with several librarians in a South Bronx library introduced him to the world of words and literature. From these early encounters, he developed a love of words, which fostered his own unique writing style. Often his prose seems to ramble along, tumbling together his characters’ thoughts as well as the unfolding action. His descriptions of people and places are vivid, aided by unusual metaphors and ornate language.
Characters and settings seem to interest Charyn more than the plot of the story. His characters are always unusual, often beguiling but with dark currents never too far beneath the surface. They are diverse, each with a unique, captivating voice. Like other aspects of his work, his characters are rarely straightforward. They are complex, motivated by a plethora of values and desires that often war with each other. They are also duplicitous with each other and the reader, leaving the reader wondering what to believe in the narrative.
Place is important in Charyn’s writing and nowhere more so than in this collection of stories. Set in the Bronx, these stories are conjured from the writer’s memories of his boyhood home and, no doubt, this helps to bring the place to life. The stories are mainly set in 1940s gangster run New York City, a world of violence and opulence with a moral code all its own. They evoke this place and time vividly and fondly. Despite the brutality of the criminal underworld, it is a place of lavish excess and vitality. The place and the people are larger than life.
In my interview with Charyn regarding Johnny One-eye, he said, “Fiction often has a greater truth than most historical texts…Novelists see history as story. We’re not burdened by ‘inaccuracies’.” I think this is how the reader should approach Charyn’s short story collection: suspend disbelief and enjoy the language that spills onto the page and the world the author creates. Charyn’s writing style may not appeal to every reader but it is worth giving it a try to discover the delights of his stories.
Note: I received a free copy of the story collection in exchange for an honest review.
July 2, 2015
Bitter Bronx by Jerome Charyn is written in Gothic Bronx style. I don’t know if there such a thing. If not, then give Jerome Charyn credit for creating a new genre. I call Charyn’s book of short stories, “Gothic” because his thirteen stories tell of weird, comic characters involved in melodramatic situations that will raise your eyebrows, or twist your lips into a smirk. I think I might have even guffawed at one of the “Silk” stories.
Charyn’s stories bring you to a “mecca of middle-class Jews,” “Mafioso restaurants”, and up to the Grand Concourse. A grifter gigolo named Howell is surprised to find love in Lorelei. Another gigolo whose modeling name was Adonis is good at dining widows. The kids at Music and Art had a cockroach who writes poetry and a companion, alley cat, who thought she was Cleopatra. They are named Archy and Mehitabel. Then there’s the bisexual in The Cat Lady’s Kiss. My favorite stories were the three stories about the Silk family: Silk & Silk, Little Sister, and Marla. The reader gets drawn into this melodramatic soap opera life of the Silks. The characterization must have reminded me of some people I know because these stories are my favorite.
Then we continue with Dee who tried to help the gentle giant, Eddie. There was a homeless man in love with Princess Hannah. A poetry teacher who made me wonder if the author was projecting himself in Milo’s Last Chance. An orphan who lucked out in Alice’s Eyes. A New York Yankees’ twenty-fifth man, who became the secret lover of a hospital administrator, in Major Leaguer. Lastly, a dangerous female ex-con in White Trash, who exhibited psychopathic behavior.
These thirteen stories will hold you tight and then release you to breathe. And think. You’ll be wondering and thinking of the Silks, and crazy characters, and colorful situations, for quite a while. Jerome Charyn’s Bitter Bronx is quite a tour. I enjoyed it. I think you will, too. I received a free copy of Bitter Bronx by Jerome Charyn from Tribute Book, but no other compensation was received, and my review is my honest evaluation.
Charyn’s stories bring you to a “mecca of middle-class Jews,” “Mafioso restaurants”, and up to the Grand Concourse. A grifter gigolo named Howell is surprised to find love in Lorelei. Another gigolo whose modeling name was Adonis is good at dining widows. The kids at Music and Art had a cockroach who writes poetry and a companion, alley cat, who thought she was Cleopatra. They are named Archy and Mehitabel. Then there’s the bisexual in The Cat Lady’s Kiss. My favorite stories were the three stories about the Silk family: Silk & Silk, Little Sister, and Marla. The reader gets drawn into this melodramatic soap opera life of the Silks. The characterization must have reminded me of some people I know because these stories are my favorite.
Then we continue with Dee who tried to help the gentle giant, Eddie. There was a homeless man in love with Princess Hannah. A poetry teacher who made me wonder if the author was projecting himself in Milo’s Last Chance. An orphan who lucked out in Alice’s Eyes. A New York Yankees’ twenty-fifth man, who became the secret lover of a hospital administrator, in Major Leaguer. Lastly, a dangerous female ex-con in White Trash, who exhibited psychopathic behavior.
These thirteen stories will hold you tight and then release you to breathe. And think. You’ll be wondering and thinking of the Silks, and crazy characters, and colorful situations, for quite a while. Jerome Charyn’s Bitter Bronx is quite a tour. I enjoyed it. I think you will, too. I received a free copy of Bitter Bronx by Jerome Charyn from Tribute Book, but no other compensation was received, and my review is my honest evaluation.
July 17, 2015
Prolific author Charyn (The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson, etc.) provides 13 (mostly) unrelated stories that have at least a little something to do with the Bronx. All were originally published between 2006–13 in various literary periodicals (e.g., Tin House, etc.). Charyn constructs hella work, powerful images in condensed language. While some stories are set in the near or distant past, others feel timeless to the point of taking place just yesterday. All feature a Bronx in “permanent recession” and focus on the push-pull of relationships. The resultant pressures and aftereffects that characters feel run the gamut—as do the characters themselves. Small-time criminals, guidance counselors, high school poetry teachers, and sexy-ass ladies who own too many cats amid “…peeling walls, the constant sting of urine, the flatulence, and the overripe sweetness of decaying flesh.” The tapestry is rich and multicultural yet understated—Puerto Ricans, African Americans, Jews, Albanians, what have you. One standout, “Major Leaguer,” is a moving tale that chronicles a sad love affair between an old ex-ball player who was the New York Yankees’ 25th man for a day in 1975 (he “struck out twice, botched a bunt, popped to left center, and hit into a double play”) and the 40-year-old, freckled hospital administrator who lives in the building where he’s a super. VERDICT Though the stories can sometimes feel choppy (Charyn constructs his sentences to deliberately jar the reader; for easy flow try Donald Antrim’s The Emerald Light in the Air), this is realistic fiction imagined through the lens of an author who has been keenly observing people for longer than you’ve been alive, son.
Find reviews of books for men at Books for Dudes, Books for Dudes, the online reader's advisory column for men from Library Journal. Copyright Library Journal.
Find reviews of books for men at Books for Dudes, Books for Dudes, the online reader's advisory column for men from Library Journal. Copyright Library Journal.
February 9, 2016
4.25 stars This compilation of short stories by the talented, Jerome Charyn, are quite moving and full portrayals of a variety of unusual characters. They are all connected by their having lived in the Bronx. Some sad, some uplifting and more than a few poignant moments. All stories felt complete in their own way because of the fullness of the stories the author described. I am told that short story writing takes a special skill in that the author must engage the reader for a brief time but then end the story in a few pages without making the story seem incomplete. Mr. Charyn does this admirably.
It is obvious that the author and his characters were deeply affected by the work of Robert Moses, who drew up and negotiated the changes that divided the Bronx community. It is probably a book most appealing to those who have lived in or visited the area.
I was given a copy of this book in a Goodreads give-away but it did not influence my review.
It is obvious that the author and his characters were deeply affected by the work of Robert Moses, who drew up and negotiated the changes that divided the Bronx community. It is probably a book most appealing to those who have lived in or visited the area.
I was given a copy of this book in a Goodreads give-away but it did not influence my review.
December 3, 2015
While I am unfamiliar with the Bronx, as someone interested in city planning, I am familiar with Robert Moses (The famous or, as some would say, infamous city planner). This book is a collection of gritty short stories about the background and decline of the Bronx. The stores are filled with a range of despicable to redemptive to flawed characters. There are many twists and turns in the plot lines. Some of the stories could take place anywhere in a declining, US city and others are unique to the Bronx. I tend to read longer literature, both fiction and non-fiction. I was happy to win the Goodreads drawing and received this book. It is worth a look.
June 20, 2015
Author Jerome Charyn has written a collection of very interesting stories about people and how they react to different things in their lives. All of the people who the stories are about are unique. The author has a great way of sharing some of his thought with the reader so that they will not want to stop but want to continue reading until the last page. I give this book a 4/5. I was given this book for the purpose of a review and all opinions are my own.
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- See more at: http://dealsharingaunt.blogspot.com/2...
June 10, 2015
As a lifetime resident of The Bronx I was hoping and expecting to be totally captivated by this book. Unfortunately that just wasn't the case. Speaking from someone who has lived his his entire life in "Da Bronx", with just a few exceptions, the characters and stories just did not strike me as authentic.
December 10, 2015
I was hoping I'd learn more about the Bronx by reading this, but that wasn't the case. It's a collection of kind of weird short stories, somehow just a little 'off' in a way...maybe that's why it's called "Bitter Bronx"? I was glad they were short stories because I probably may not have had the oomph to stay with any one of them much further!
June 1, 2015
Wide ranging set of short stories about some really interesting characters in the Bronx (my birthplace!). So I am a bit biased, but man, what a place. What a setting for such intriguing stories. What a writer.
January 30, 2016
Very interesting and somewhat twisted collection of short stories that place in the Bronx. Reading these stories made me be able to picture the setting and the characters.
I received an advanced copy from the Goodreads First Reads Program.
I received an advanced copy from the Goodreads First Reads Program.
February 17, 2016
I won this book from a goodreads giveaway. I'm generally fond of books containing short stories, and I wansnt disappointed by Bitter Bronx. As someone who has no ties to new York or the Bronx, I found these 13 stories to be intriguing and entertaining for the most part.
June 7, 2016
Love these stories-sparse, like broken fences still standing in the wind. Two memorable sentences- "He always existed at the edge of things." and "But he no longer heard the voices of Byron and Keats inside his head." "Milo's Last Chance" burns my eyes. It's itself worth the price of admission.
Want to Read
June 3, 2015I enjoy short stories and this read was one of the best...
July 14, 2015
Fantastic collection of short stories.
Read
August 3, 2015Review by Penny Metsch for the Jewish Book Council.
August 13, 2015
Loved these stories. Very New York, and very spare. Want to read his memoir, now, which seems harder to get.
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