Monticello: A Borscht Belt Catskills Tale

by Elliot Udell

This story is like taking a time machine back to the era when the Catskill Borscht Belt resorts reigned supreme. Readers will be able to hear the sounds, smell the grass and live with the people who who made up this bygone resort empire.

310 pages, Paperback

Published February 3, 2019

About the author

Elliot Udell is an author and actor in New York City. He grew up in the Catskills at his grandparents resort in the heyday of the Borscht belt hotel empire. His book is a fictionalized memoir of that part of his life.

When not acting or writing, Elliot is a podiatrist in Long Island and travels around the country lecturing at medical seminars.

Reviews

[Sindy Udell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this book. I spent many summers in the Catskills and this book brought back great memories. It is a quick read and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very stilted writing and an uninteresting story. It is just the references to the hotels that kept me going.

[Patty Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book but it was just ok.

[Lis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Monticello: A Borcht Belt Catskills Tale, is a warm, witty and sensitive coming of age story that takes place in Monticello during it’s heyday. Elliot, a teenager spending his summer at his grandparent’s boarding house straddles a life between friendships with rowdy, foul mouthed, “typical American” teens and a longing to better understand the ways of God. He spends a lot of time in both worlds and ultimately gains a better perspective of religious Judaism and how he fits into it.
Elliot’s warm, loving relationships with his family; friends and religious leaders bring you back to a gentler, kinder time, when youth and seniors were able to have more interactions and each benefit from them.
I highly recommend this book for everyone... but especially for anyone who had the privilege of spending time in the old Jewish Catskills.