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Greetings From Asbury Park
In a small, seaside city on the Jersey Shore, three half-siblings confront the death of a distant and bullying patriarch. They now have the chance to imagine new relationships and new futures, ones that would have been near-unthinkable while their father was alive.
At the heart of the novel are Casey and Gabrielle who are pushed toward a brief but torrential affair composed of equal parts love for one another and resentment for their father. Caught in their crossfire are the conservative religious communities that border Asbury Park, the longtime locals who have been pushed to the fringe by the shore's revitalization, and the legendary town upon which the whole world seems to converge. Slowly, however, they come to understand that everything depends--their future, their happiness--on whether they can face themselves.
Wise, perceptive, and provocative, Greetings from Asbury Park is a remarkable literary debut in the tradition of great American novels such as Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio. It is a deep interrogation of place that depicts flawed characters as they breakthrough to adulthood, truth, and to a moral relationship with the world.
At the heart of the novel are Casey and Gabrielle who are pushed toward a brief but torrential affair composed of equal parts love for one another and resentment for their father. Caught in their crossfire are the conservative religious communities that border Asbury Park, the longtime locals who have been pushed to the fringe by the shore's revitalization, and the legendary town upon which the whole world seems to converge. Slowly, however, they come to understand that everything depends--their future, their happiness--on whether they can face themselves.
Wise, perceptive, and provocative, Greetings from Asbury Park is a remarkable literary debut in the tradition of great American novels such as Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio. It is a deep interrogation of place that depicts flawed characters as they breakthrough to adulthood, truth, and to a moral relationship with the world.
- GenresFictionContemporary
262 pages, Hardcover
Published April 5, 2022
35 people are currently reading
2286 people want to read
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October 15, 2021
First off, thank you Blackstone Publishing for providing me a reading copy in advance of the publication date. Next, a disclaimer or two: the author DANIEL TURTEL is a cousin of my nephew (grandson of the brother of the father of my nephew) whom I may have met once or twice in 50 plus years. I ALWAYS give an honest review of any book I read regardless of the source. Lastly, it is a book out of my comfort zone. I usually read books in genres such as mystery, military fiction and historical fiction. Every so often, I like to deviate from the “shoot’em ups” to cleanse my reading palate, so to speak.
GREETINGS FROM ASBURY PARK is a Faulkner Society winner for best novel. I can see why. Once started, I could not not put it down. My only complaint is that it was about 240 pages. Too short for such fine writing. I wanted more. Very strong characters.
The story takes place on the New Jersey north shore between Deal and Asbury Park. Basically, there are two groups of people populating the book. One group consists of the permanent residents. The other group are the summer and weekend visitors who come for vacation/downtime. The author depicts the players as very strong characters. The time period ranges from late spring 2016 to about a year later.
The primary character is Casey Larkin, illegitimate son of Joseph Larkin a wealthy and not very nice person, who narrates about every other chapter. He has left his home in New Jersey to work in New York City, more than an hour away. His half-brother is David Larkin, primary heir to Joseph’s estate. They also have a half-sister Gabriella whose mother was a house cleaner (and more) for Joseph. Gabriella is a jazz singer with her own band. Her mother is Tamera Walker. Joseph was a man with a wandering eye when it came to women. He had a wife (David’s mother) and two mistresses (Gabrielle and Casey’s mothers).
Another permanent resident is Meredith Hawthorne who, at one time, was a close friend of Casey (but not lovers). They had drifted apart a couple years earlier. Boutique shop owner Julie Kowolski and her daughter Lena are other locals.
Among the prominent “outsiders” is Sam Besalel, an Orthodox Jew of Syrian ancestry. His 19-year-old son Jacob is strict in his beliefs. His 17-year-old sister Sophie is more lax in her beliefs. Both have strong feelings as befits their late teen-age years. This makes for great conflict among the characters.
The first chapter, narrated by Casey, begins on the day of Joseph’s funeral. Casey meets David in a bar. He goes home with Lena for a one-night stand. The next day is the reading of Joseph’s will. David inherits the bulk of the estate (more than $20 million dollars). Casey gets $50,000 and heretofore-unknown house. That house is where Gabrielle and her mother live.
As the story progresses, the reader realizes that one of the characters has drug (pain pills) and drinking problems. Friends and family do not do anything about it. Relationships develop among and between the characters. Some are good. Some are not. The way the story ended surprised me. Well done
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! I do not give this recommendation often. If you are looking for a mainstream, very readable novel, this is your book.
GO! BUY! READ!
GREETINGS FROM ASBURY PARK is a Faulkner Society winner for best novel. I can see why. Once started, I could not not put it down. My only complaint is that it was about 240 pages. Too short for such fine writing. I wanted more. Very strong characters.
The story takes place on the New Jersey north shore between Deal and Asbury Park. Basically, there are two groups of people populating the book. One group consists of the permanent residents. The other group are the summer and weekend visitors who come for vacation/downtime. The author depicts the players as very strong characters. The time period ranges from late spring 2016 to about a year later.
The primary character is Casey Larkin, illegitimate son of Joseph Larkin a wealthy and not very nice person, who narrates about every other chapter. He has left his home in New Jersey to work in New York City, more than an hour away. His half-brother is David Larkin, primary heir to Joseph’s estate. They also have a half-sister Gabriella whose mother was a house cleaner (and more) for Joseph. Gabriella is a jazz singer with her own band. Her mother is Tamera Walker. Joseph was a man with a wandering eye when it came to women. He had a wife (David’s mother) and two mistresses (Gabrielle and Casey’s mothers).
Another permanent resident is Meredith Hawthorne who, at one time, was a close friend of Casey (but not lovers). They had drifted apart a couple years earlier. Boutique shop owner Julie Kowolski and her daughter Lena are other locals.
Among the prominent “outsiders” is Sam Besalel, an Orthodox Jew of Syrian ancestry. His 19-year-old son Jacob is strict in his beliefs. His 17-year-old sister Sophie is more lax in her beliefs. Both have strong feelings as befits their late teen-age years. This makes for great conflict among the characters.
The first chapter, narrated by Casey, begins on the day of Joseph’s funeral. Casey meets David in a bar. He goes home with Lena for a one-night stand. The next day is the reading of Joseph’s will. David inherits the bulk of the estate (more than $20 million dollars). Casey gets $50,000 and heretofore-unknown house. That house is where Gabrielle and her mother live.
As the story progresses, the reader realizes that one of the characters has drug (pain pills) and drinking problems. Friends and family do not do anything about it. Relationships develop among and between the characters. Some are good. Some are not. The way the story ended surprised me. Well done
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! I do not give this recommendation often. If you are looking for a mainstream, very readable novel, this is your book.
GO! BUY! READ!
April 5, 2022
My full review as it appears in the New York Journal of Books!
The sphere of activity in Daniel H. Turtel’s Greetings from Asbury Park epitomizes character as place, vacillating along the New Jersey shore between Asbury Park, Deal Lake, and Long Branch, in a vivid and vibrantly described setting. “The boardwalk followed the sand from the northern tip of Asbury Park all the way south to Belmar and beyond—a stretch of more than three miles before the Shark River Bridge interrupted it.” On the boardwalk’s half-mile commercial strip between Convention Hall and the Casino, “there were restaurants and bars all down the strip . . . and it was always busiest in the summer.”
It is the summer of 2016, and affluent Joseph Larkin is dead. A philandering, self-serving, unlikable man who lived in a Long Branch estate, he, seemingly for the sport of creating chaos from the grave, leaves an unresolved web of interconnected characters in his wake, who are primarily unaware of each other.
Greetings from Asbury Park is Casey Larkin’s story. In his early twenties and on hiatus for one month from his job in New York City to attend Joseph Larkin’s funeral, he spends the hot summer days coming to terms with his identity against a backdrop of disparate characters from varying backgrounds all touched by the long shadow of his deceased, biological father.
Twenty-six-year-old ne’re do well, Davey Larkin, is the pill-popping, heavy-drinking, legitimate son of Joseph Larkin, who “had a personal stool at the bar Pop’s Garage in Asbury Park and bought a drink for anybody who approached him to offer condolences.” Davey is well aware of Casey, his illegitimate half-brother born of his father’s mistress, who’s kept conveniently on the other side of town in an area named Allenhurst. Casey explains their relationship: “Davey’s mother was Joseph’s wife and Allenhurst was as close as she would allow him to keep his mistress . . . I did not even meet Davey until I was eight years old, and did not go to live with them, until three years later, when my mother decided that she’d had enough of being a mistress and headed to New York with the money she’d squeezed out of Joseph in order to try her hand at life as a single woman.”
Casey and Davey have an awkward relationship, and neither have knowledge of their biracial, half-sister, a promising teenage singer in the boardwalk nightclubs named Gabby, whose mother, it is discovered, was Joseph’s maid for 20 years. When Casey and Gabby unexpectedly meet after Joseph Larkin’s funeral through circumstances involving Casey’s inheritance, a complicated relationship ignites, and the moral line between the taboo of shared blood and the unwitting spark of attraction is highlighted.
Meredith Hawthorne is the daughter of an Irish immigrant who works as a landscaper. A year ahead of Casey while they were in middle school, Meredith grew up next door to Casey in Allenhurst and knows of his history with Joseph and Davey Larkin. In reconnecting with Casey, while he’s in town for Joseph’s funeral, Meredith is equally as tentative and inarticulate with her feelings for him as she was when they were younger.
Julie Kowalski owns an upscale boardwalk dress shop named Madame K and employs Gabby part-time. Known regionally as Madame K, Julie is the mother of the free-spirited Lena, with whom Casey has a one-night stand on the night of Joseph’s funeral, after meeting her in a boardwalk bar. Every morning, Julie takes her cup of coffee to her front porch, and watches in fascination as 19-year-old Jacob Besalel runs four laps around Deal lake’s eastern tip.
A serious, disciplined young man from a devout Syrian Jewish background, Jacob is dismayed that his younger sister, Sophia, goes beyond their strict upbringing to test society’s fringes on the boardwalk, where she crosses paths with Madame K, Gabby, and Davey. Because the Besalel family spends summer in the area, all characters in this surprising story are brought into wonderfully crafted, uncanny alignment in ways that add depth, dimension, and clever layers to the tightly entwined story of fate and chance and the inescapable bonds of family connections.
Daniel H. Turtel artfully weaves multiple storylines centered on Asbury Park and stemming from the life of the duplicitous Joseph Larkin. Varying points of view amid clashing cultures are used throughout this modern-day, progressive story that reads like a sign of the times amid a dysfunctional family, whose hidden story is finally brought to light.
Through the use of economic language and the power of a wildly engaging story, Greetings from Asbury Park explores existential questions such as right versus wrong; nature versus nurture; morality versus self-direction, and ultimately, to whom we are accountable. It’s a pithy, enjoyable, modern-day story from start to finish, with a cast of fully realized characters you’ll champion to the end.
March 30, 2022
3.5
When my husband finished his education and we relocated to Eastern Pennsylvania, an older couple took us under their wings. They introduced us to Lancaster County, the Poconos, and took us to ‘the shore,’ to Ocean Grove, the historic Methodist vacation spot next door to the secular Asbury Park.
Greetings to Asbury Park caught my attention first with the cover and then by the description.
At the center of the story is a dysfunctional family whose patriarch has passed, leaving behind a legitimate heir, David, and two children born to his mistresses. His illegitimate son Casey came to live with the family as a teenager and counts David as a brother. Casey has returned from New York City upon their father’s death. When the will is read, Casey learns he is to inherit a house no one knew about. Living in the house was one more mistress and another half-sibling, the beautiful Gabrielle.
At times the writing pushes into the literary and poetic. Turtel delves into his character’s psyches. The ugliness of class and privilege and race is portrayed. These characters are all deeply flawed and conflicted. David is a self-destructive alcoholic and womanizer. Casey and Gabrielle have an attraction they can’t handle. Minor characters represent the experience of immigrants and people of color, and religious differences. There is incest and rape.
It is a dark novel.
I have been conflicted about how I feel about this story. It has its merits. But it is disturbing.
I received a free egalley from the publisher though NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
When my husband finished his education and we relocated to Eastern Pennsylvania, an older couple took us under their wings. They introduced us to Lancaster County, the Poconos, and took us to ‘the shore,’ to Ocean Grove, the historic Methodist vacation spot next door to the secular Asbury Park.
Greetings to Asbury Park caught my attention first with the cover and then by the description.
At the center of the story is a dysfunctional family whose patriarch has passed, leaving behind a legitimate heir, David, and two children born to his mistresses. His illegitimate son Casey came to live with the family as a teenager and counts David as a brother. Casey has returned from New York City upon their father’s death. When the will is read, Casey learns he is to inherit a house no one knew about. Living in the house was one more mistress and another half-sibling, the beautiful Gabrielle.
At times the writing pushes into the literary and poetic. Turtel delves into his character’s psyches. The ugliness of class and privilege and race is portrayed. These characters are all deeply flawed and conflicted. David is a self-destructive alcoholic and womanizer. Casey and Gabrielle have an attraction they can’t handle. Minor characters represent the experience of immigrants and people of color, and religious differences. There is incest and rape.
It is a dark novel.
I have been conflicted about how I feel about this story. It has its merits. But it is disturbing.
I received a free egalley from the publisher though NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
July 9, 2022
Set in a small town on the Jersey Shore, 3 half-siblings have to come to terms with the death of their autocratic father and learn to deal with their own demons – of which they each have more than their fair share. With a wide range of characters, from various backgrounds, many sub-plots and only loose threads binding them all together, the premise is potentially interesting but the execution is a mess. I found the book convoluted and jumbled, jumping about in time and place and constantly demanding that the reader yet again re-orientate themselves. Everyone in this novel is dysfunctional to a greater or larger extent and the result of that is quite frankly tedious. With whom are we supposed to empathise, or care about? They are all self-indulgent and unable to see beyond their own immediate circumstances, and although the author attempts to explain the reason for this, it’s all so disjointed that I soon lost patience. I don’t expect redemption or catharsis in every novel I read but I do expect some sort of progression, and that is absent here.
February 22, 2022
As a native New Jerseyan, I obviously saw the title on Netgalley and had to get my hand on this one. Daniel Turtel's debut tells the story of three half-siblings of Joseph Larkin, a wealthy man who dies and leaves the bulk of his estate to his son, Daniel, who is floundering and ends up with an opioid addiction. Daniel's half-siblings, Casey and Gabriella, an 18-year-old jazz singer, float in and out of Daniel's life.
While I love a family drama, this one was difficult for me to get into. First, there were too many characters introduced all together and it was difficult to keep the storylines straight. After reading it, I read a review saying that the book is like listening to a drunk's stories at a bar. Bingo. Can you feel drunk from reading a book? I think the answer is yes.
I felt like we were scratching the surface on all of them. Second, the changing narrator was difficult to follow, and a lot of the writing was stream-of-consciousness that did not hold my attention.
While I love a family drama, this one was difficult for me to get into. First, there were too many characters introduced all together and it was difficult to keep the storylines straight. After reading it, I read a review saying that the book is like listening to a drunk's stories at a bar. Bingo. Can you feel drunk from reading a book? I think the answer is yes.
I felt like we were scratching the surface on all of them. Second, the changing narrator was difficult to follow, and a lot of the writing was stream-of-consciousness that did not hold my attention.
February 22, 2022
Set amongst a seaside town, the lives of several characters are described almost lyrically in an ode to the heavy love of jazz held by the dead patriarch of the story who has fathered three children, one by his wife and the legitimate heir to his property, financial comfort, etc., and two illegitimate children mothered by mistresses.
The story is complicated in the sense that within a few intersecting areas of quarters, the characters are all intertwined as well. The author does not shy from scandal from allowing rumors to spread between the locals and bringing issues of class, race, family dynamics and sexual orientation to the main stage.
The book itself is not terribly long, and I was left wanting more background and insight to the characters. The ending left me with an ache in my chest but served as an appropriate ending to a story full of characters that were merely improvising their way through life.
All around a wonderful debut and I look forward to reading more from this author.
**DRC provided by NetGalley
The story is complicated in the sense that within a few intersecting areas of quarters, the characters are all intertwined as well. The author does not shy from scandal from allowing rumors to spread between the locals and bringing issues of class, race, family dynamics and sexual orientation to the main stage.
The book itself is not terribly long, and I was left wanting more background and insight to the characters. The ending left me with an ache in my chest but served as an appropriate ending to a story full of characters that were merely improvising their way through life.
All around a wonderful debut and I look forward to reading more from this author.
**DRC provided by NetGalley
February 12, 2022
Thank you NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy!
I wanted to like this book and it started out strong but... it just didn't do it for me.
After the first chapter or so I found it hard to keep my interest. I had requested this book because the summary made it sound like something I'd be interested in. The further I got into I realized the summary is not all that it seems. Sure, we do see some of the things mentioned but they never go that far in depth. There are other things we do see that I wish had been left out completely. For example, the full on incestuous relationship between Casey and Gabrielle. I got the vibes that this was going to happen early on but it never felt comfortable. And I get that you aren't always supposed to feel comfortable! I was just bothered by this and by the fact that everyone seemed to accept it and then it was moved on from as if it was really not that big of a deal.
What I really felt was missing was the Why? For instance we know that the siblings father was an asshole but we don't see many examples of this to connect how it has effected them. The ending was a bit of a surprise but I was also searching for the why it happened. Maybe I just needed more or maybe this book just wasn't for me.
All in all some may appreciated this book. I did not connect with it. I also had a difficult time with the word flow but this may have been due to formatting issues which I'm sure will be corrected prior to publication.
I wanted to like this book and it started out strong but... it just didn't do it for me.
After the first chapter or so I found it hard to keep my interest. I had requested this book because the summary made it sound like something I'd be interested in. The further I got into I realized the summary is not all that it seems. Sure, we do see some of the things mentioned but they never go that far in depth. There are other things we do see that I wish had been left out completely. For example, the full on incestuous relationship between Casey and Gabrielle. I got the vibes that this was going to happen early on but it never felt comfortable. And I get that you aren't always supposed to feel comfortable! I was just bothered by this and by the fact that everyone seemed to accept it and then it was moved on from as if it was really not that big of a deal.
What I really felt was missing was the Why? For instance we know that the siblings father was an asshole but we don't see many examples of this to connect how it has effected them. The ending was a bit of a surprise but I was also searching for the why it happened. Maybe I just needed more or maybe this book just wasn't for me.
All in all some may appreciated this book. I did not connect with it. I also had a difficult time with the word flow but this may have been due to formatting issues which I'm sure will be corrected prior to publication.
January 12, 2022
Greetings from Asbury Park
Daniel H. Turtel
Blackstone Publishers
Publication date - April 5, 2022
Turtle’s debut novel is set in Asbury Park on the New Jersey shore. The setting is integral to the book. And yes, it is the same Asbury Park of Bruce Springsteen fame. The Stone Pony even makes an appearance.
The story centers on three half-siblings after the death of their distant father, a very wealthy man. Like the jazz music interspersed throughout the book, the characters are improvising, trying to determine who they really are and what they really want from life. They make mistakes along the way, as humans do; but that only adds to the character development of Davey, Casey, and Gabrielle.
I especially enjoyed the writing in the chapter, Greetings from Asbury Park. If you are struggling with the book, hang in there until you’ve read this chapter. It’s magnificent writing.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Daniel H. Turtel
Blackstone Publishers
Publication date - April 5, 2022
Turtle’s debut novel is set in Asbury Park on the New Jersey shore. The setting is integral to the book. And yes, it is the same Asbury Park of Bruce Springsteen fame. The Stone Pony even makes an appearance.
The story centers on three half-siblings after the death of their distant father, a very wealthy man. Like the jazz music interspersed throughout the book, the characters are improvising, trying to determine who they really are and what they really want from life. They make mistakes along the way, as humans do; but that only adds to the character development of Davey, Casey, and Gabrielle.
I especially enjoyed the writing in the chapter, Greetings from Asbury Park. If you are struggling with the book, hang in there until you’ve read this chapter. It’s magnificent writing.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
April 9, 2022
A sweeping family saga and a wise debut from Jersey's own Daniel H. Turtel!
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Thank you to Blackstone Publishing for sending this fantastic debut to the Thunder Road Books crew.
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Casey Larkin, son of Joseph Larking, has come to the seaside town of Asbury Park to bury his father- and move on.
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He is sucked back into the small town from which he came, united with his half siblings, Gabrielle and David. What unfolds is 3 young people making sense of the family dynamics and social issues from where they were raised.
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This was a brilliant debut. To read about the descriptive, beautiful, yet gritty town that is Asbury Park, this Jersey gal is proud to say this one came from our great Garden state!
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Thank you to Blackstone Publishing for sending this fantastic debut to the Thunder Road Books crew.
.
Casey Larkin, son of Joseph Larking, has come to the seaside town of Asbury Park to bury his father- and move on.
.
He is sucked back into the small town from which he came, united with his half siblings, Gabrielle and David. What unfolds is 3 young people making sense of the family dynamics and social issues from where they were raised.
.
This was a brilliant debut. To read about the descriptive, beautiful, yet gritty town that is Asbury Park, this Jersey gal is proud to say this one came from our great Garden state!
April 6, 2022
Greetings From Asbury Park is not the kind of story I usually reach for off a bookshelf, but I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review and I’m thankful for the opportunity to read outside of my normal “box”. At times the story is difficult to follow as we hop between a large cast of character, but I can almost guarantee there will be one or two you get genuinely attached to and care deeply for. There is a relationship in the book I was not comfortable reading about, and there was another I was thoroughly invested in. This book touches on several “life questions” we’re all familiar with: does money buy happiness and is blood alone enough to make someone family? If you are a fan of familial drama, angst, and feeling like you’re peeking into a secret community you’ll enjoy this book.
March 20, 2022
I had middling hopes for this book, having seen some praise from some authors that i have great esteem for, but unfortunately it fell flat for me.
The best/strongest part of the book, for me, was the setting and that's largely because it felt so personal. My family has been vacationing on the Jersey Shore, and making a yearly visit to Asbury Park, for the past few years. So it was cozy and familiar to see the places we have frequented described on the page, along with the stretches of beach I have come to love so much.
The characters of this book, however, failed to grip me. Each one felt more hollow than the last and despite their obvious, or less obvious, connections, they never truly felt like they belonged in the same story. I failed to see what was special about any of them, nor did I feel any empathy or sympathy for their plights, with one minor exception that doesn't even hit the page until the last 90 or so percent of the book.
The writing often felt repetitive and distant and what thoughts were attributed to which characters often got messed up in my mind (though this could be because of some pretty faulty formatting in the ebook that I read). The repetition often felt like it was Turtel trying to achieve a rhythm or to emphasize a certain point, but for me it rather felt like he was trying to hit a word count and so tried to be stylistic (and failed).
All in all, I really wanted to like this book far more than I did, for its setting and for its title being taken from one of the rock and roll greats, but it just feels like it was reaching for something it never quite found.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own, and I am writing a voluntary review.
The best/strongest part of the book, for me, was the setting and that's largely because it felt so personal. My family has been vacationing on the Jersey Shore, and making a yearly visit to Asbury Park, for the past few years. So it was cozy and familiar to see the places we have frequented described on the page, along with the stretches of beach I have come to love so much.
The characters of this book, however, failed to grip me. Each one felt more hollow than the last and despite their obvious, or less obvious, connections, they never truly felt like they belonged in the same story. I failed to see what was special about any of them, nor did I feel any empathy or sympathy for their plights, with one minor exception that doesn't even hit the page until the last 90 or so percent of the book.
The writing often felt repetitive and distant and what thoughts were attributed to which characters often got messed up in my mind (though this could be because of some pretty faulty formatting in the ebook that I read). The repetition often felt like it was Turtel trying to achieve a rhythm or to emphasize a certain point, but for me it rather felt like he was trying to hit a word count and so tried to be stylistic (and failed).
All in all, I really wanted to like this book far more than I did, for its setting and for its title being taken from one of the rock and roll greats, but it just feels like it was reaching for something it never quite found.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own, and I am writing a voluntary review.
February 7, 2022
First off, I’d like to thank Netgalley for my copy of this book! Second, my review: I’m not the biggest general fiction reader (I tend to read mostly horror and thrillers), but the title drew me in because of my love for Asbury Park. I’m glad my love for AP got me to read this book. It’s complex in its ideas in the best way, but simple in its narrative, which makes these ideas stand out strong. The writing is phenomenal in ways that make you stop to take in the punch of a well-crafted sentence. As one reviewer mentioned, the characters really do navigate the book in the same way jazz is composed, and I think that controlled chaos works perfect for each character’s development. Overall a great read, and I’m excited for this one to hit the shelves.
March 29, 2022
The king is dead long live etc. This chronicle starts with a father's funeral, and although told in first person by his son by a mistress, the father figure never fully came to life for me. The balance of the book introduces and embroils all three of his kids, only one by his wife. The others by mistresses, but only Casey, the illegitimate son is given a voice. There are some astoundingly strong parts to this book, particularly the beginning and an interior chapter that focuses on people and localities and the relationships engendered within those categories. Unfortunately, for me the writing of the latter chapters didn't measure up to that of the first, but I look forward to whatever else Turtel presents.
April 26, 2022
3.5 🌟
Thank you to @sabrina_dax_pr and @blackstonepublishing gifted copy.
Greetings from Asbury Park has some wild and tense stuff going on. Set on the iconic Jersey Shore, it centers around three very flawed and conflicted half-siblings trying to move on after their horrible father has died.
This is a jumble of the messiness of family, of poor decisions and then add to it the ugly side of class, religion, and race. The results are dark and unsettling.
Turtel’s writing has that literary feel; it is sardonic, detailed, and the POV shifts abruptly. I found these characters unlikeable - but I think their moral fiber and its relation to the world may be the story's point. A very interesting, but complicated debut novel.
Thank you to @sabrina_dax_pr and @blackstonepublishing gifted copy.
Greetings from Asbury Park has some wild and tense stuff going on. Set on the iconic Jersey Shore, it centers around three very flawed and conflicted half-siblings trying to move on after their horrible father has died.
This is a jumble of the messiness of family, of poor decisions and then add to it the ugly side of class, religion, and race. The results are dark and unsettling.
Turtel’s writing has that literary feel; it is sardonic, detailed, and the POV shifts abruptly. I found these characters unlikeable - but I think their moral fiber and its relation to the world may be the story's point. A very interesting, but complicated debut novel.
July 16, 2022
I had kept receiving advertisements all spring about this book, and looked into it and thought well this might be interesting, since I grew up going to the shore and now frequent parts of the shore this story takes place in. Then finally, I was in a bookstore down the shore the other month, and saw it. I knew it was serendipitous so I finally decided Sure why not buy it. And I knew I was definitely planning to read it in the summer, it just had to be, right?
As a debut, you cannot deny the author has some serious chops and really put their heart and soul into it. I personally think that is what we, as readers, love to see especially in a debut of all novels. To really bare themself to the whole world not knowing whether or not they will succeed or not. Well, commercial and marketing success aside, the author succeeded in creating a homage to a particular part of the shore, and Truly hitting all the right notes about all the different characters who dwell there. For anyone unfamiliar with the Asbury Park area, this gives a good enough depiction. And for those of us familiar, it was a nice treat to hear the sights and sounds we are so familiar with.
At times, the author was perfectly descriptive. While at others, maybe a bit too much, but perhaps that is the author's style. I am not familiar with some of the other authors who wrote quotes for this novel nor any of the author's inspirations, so perhaps this is a stylistic choice that a particular group of writers are most comfortable creating in. So I can't judge the author for how they write based on that, but some sections were extremely descriptive and I felt like I was getting a little too lost. However, I come to learn from an online article/interview, the original intention for most this story was short stories, and you can truly see that in some of the particular chapters. They definitely feel like a collection of short stories that would have been published in a book by one of the great literary geniuses in the mid to late twentieth century. Short stories about different people, but all in the same world, and maybe interacting or not.
I think its hard to not talk about the one romantic relationship in the story, its talked about almost everywhere online in reviews. The same article I read explained the authors inspiration, so I think that helped clear the air before I read the actual book. It is still a very strange concept to read about, but in my opinion it was not this overly grotesque or explicit depiction. It was there, it happened, and that was really it. It adds into the storyline and a lot of the character development as well as character revelation, which is truly the whole premise of this book: revealing one's truth, no matter how dark it may be.
I would recommend this to those from the shore area and who have a fondness for literary work, true literary novels I mean. I wouldn't suggest this if you want something light, even though it is a quick read, there's a lot to digest. But bravo to the author, I look forward to seeing what else they produce in the coming years, and if we will return to this familiar location as well.
As a debut, you cannot deny the author has some serious chops and really put their heart and soul into it. I personally think that is what we, as readers, love to see especially in a debut of all novels. To really bare themself to the whole world not knowing whether or not they will succeed or not. Well, commercial and marketing success aside, the author succeeded in creating a homage to a particular part of the shore, and Truly hitting all the right notes about all the different characters who dwell there. For anyone unfamiliar with the Asbury Park area, this gives a good enough depiction. And for those of us familiar, it was a nice treat to hear the sights and sounds we are so familiar with.
At times, the author was perfectly descriptive. While at others, maybe a bit too much, but perhaps that is the author's style. I am not familiar with some of the other authors who wrote quotes for this novel nor any of the author's inspirations, so perhaps this is a stylistic choice that a particular group of writers are most comfortable creating in. So I can't judge the author for how they write based on that, but some sections were extremely descriptive and I felt like I was getting a little too lost. However, I come to learn from an online article/interview, the original intention for most this story was short stories, and you can truly see that in some of the particular chapters. They definitely feel like a collection of short stories that would have been published in a book by one of the great literary geniuses in the mid to late twentieth century. Short stories about different people, but all in the same world, and maybe interacting or not.
I think its hard to not talk about the one romantic relationship in the story, its talked about almost everywhere online in reviews. The same article I read explained the authors inspiration, so I think that helped clear the air before I read the actual book. It is still a very strange concept to read about, but in my opinion it was not this overly grotesque or explicit depiction. It was there, it happened, and that was really it. It adds into the storyline and a lot of the character development as well as character revelation, which is truly the whole premise of this book: revealing one's truth, no matter how dark it may be.
I would recommend this to those from the shore area and who have a fondness for literary work, true literary novels I mean. I wouldn't suggest this if you want something light, even though it is a quick read, there's a lot to digest. But bravo to the author, I look forward to seeing what else they produce in the coming years, and if we will return to this familiar location as well.
June 11, 2022
This was a book I picked up solely because of the title. I’ve spent plenty of summer days down the shore in Asbury Park, I’ve literally walked through the building on the cover within the first few weeks of dating my now-girlfriend. And that setting felt the most fleshed out, but even for people not from Jersey it could be any town that’s going through gentrification and the balance of the old residents and the new.
But despite it being a character driven novel, I couldn’t have cared less about any of the characters. They were all awful and self absorbed in their own ways. My biggest complaint that so many of them barely felt like they fit in the same book, and the chapters jumping back and forth between characters made it feel really disjointed.
But despite it being a character driven novel, I couldn’t have cared less about any of the characters. They were all awful and self absorbed in their own ways. My biggest complaint that so many of them barely felt like they fit in the same book, and the chapters jumping back and forth between characters made it feel really disjointed.
April 4, 2022
2.5 ⭐️s rounded up for Goodreads
Thank you Blackstone Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Well… I really had high hopes for this book because of the synopsis and hello? It has Asbury Park in the title. As someone who spends their summers at Asbury, I’m pretty disappointed here. This novel was VERY character driven and not in the best way I guess? There was no plot and the characters were all over the place. It was hard to keep up and every single character was unlikeable for me. I think the only reason I was able to finish the book was because it was only 240 pages.
Anyway, read it or don’t read it but I won’t be recommending this to my Asbury friends.
Thank you Blackstone Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Well… I really had high hopes for this book because of the synopsis and hello? It has Asbury Park in the title. As someone who spends their summers at Asbury, I’m pretty disappointed here. This novel was VERY character driven and not in the best way I guess? There was no plot and the characters were all over the place. It was hard to keep up and every single character was unlikeable for me. I think the only reason I was able to finish the book was because it was only 240 pages.
Anyway, read it or don’t read it but I won’t be recommending this to my Asbury friends.
July 7, 2022
Good start, bad finish.
The first few chapters read like literary short stories, with sentences that beg to be read slowly and repetitively.
Then the connections between the characters become evident, and the story has me in its grip.
At about the halfway point, the book lost me by zoning in on two of my least favourite themes: addiction and religion.
As much as this was beautifully written, I didn't care at all about the characters.
The first few chapters read like literary short stories, with sentences that beg to be read slowly and repetitively.
Then the connections between the characters become evident, and the story has me in its grip.
At about the halfway point, the book lost me by zoning in on two of my least favourite themes: addiction and religion.
As much as this was beautifully written, I didn't care at all about the characters.
October 31, 2021
Greetings from Asbury Park intrigued me because I grew up in the area and enjoyed the accurate descriptions of the local places and communities. Three half-siblings react to each other and their father's death in different ways. I would have liked to better understand the father's motivation for treating his children so differently.
I liked the writing and the character development but found the story to be of less interest as it went on.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
I liked the writing and the character development but found the story to be of less interest as it went on.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
June 4, 2022
The self indulgent characters of this book were a big turn off. In parts it was a case of rich kids behaving badly but really it was everyone - rich and poor - behaving badly. No one here was likeable, they all made really poor choices in how they led their lives. I realize they were all severely lacking strong adult role models. Sex, drugs, and music were the big influences here. There were so many characters to track, it was often difficult to know who was narrating. Some passages were beautiful, others left me wondering what I missed. Overall, this just didn't work for me.
October 7, 2022
Daniel H. Turtel's debut novel "Greetings from Asbury Park" caught my eye simply because I've been visiting that town a lot in the past few years. I was curious to see how it would be portrayed in a work of fiction. The author is pretty accurate in some ways, but off-base in others, possibly just due to artistic license. There is no way, for example, that he could describe the wonderful Silverball Museum as an "antique arcade" unless he wanted to make the boardwalk seem less appealing. If that was the author's intent, he succeeded. The story takes place primarily in 2016, the first year I attended the annual Surf Music Festival, and my impression of the town at that time was a lot nicer. However, the story is told from the point of view of local residents who may have a different opinion of the revitalization of Asbury Park.
Three half-siblings are brought together for the funeral of their common father. Along with that family drama we are shown some local minority communities and how their residents' lives intersect with the main family. There isn't much joy here. There is a lot of regret, substance abuse, homophobia and a modicum of reflection and inner growth for some characters. The author writes well but I just couldn't connect with his version of Asbury Park or most of the characters. (And what is it about "a girl in yellow dress?" From a Monkees song to the movie "Medium Cool" it seems to be code for sexual/intellectual awakening, perhaps related to the short story and play "The Yellow Wallpaper." It just seems to be an ongoing theme recently). Anyway, a good debut style-wise and I'll be willing to check out any subsequent works.
Three half-siblings are brought together for the funeral of their common father. Along with that family drama we are shown some local minority communities and how their residents' lives intersect with the main family. There isn't much joy here. There is a lot of regret, substance abuse, homophobia and a modicum of reflection and inner growth for some characters. The author writes well but I just couldn't connect with his version of Asbury Park or most of the characters. (And what is it about "a girl in yellow dress?" From a Monkees song to the movie "Medium Cool" it seems to be code for sexual/intellectual awakening, perhaps related to the short story and play "The Yellow Wallpaper." It just seems to be an ongoing theme recently). Anyway, a good debut style-wise and I'll be willing to check out any subsequent works.
March 27, 2022
It’s always fun to read a book set in an area one knows pretty well. This time, it’s the part of the Jersey Shore centered on Asbury Park and nearby towns: Allenhurst, Deal, Long Branch, and Ocean Grove, mostly. The author writes beautifully; the descriptions of places I know well ring true, like his description of the footbridge between Asbury Park and Ocean Grove. However, I found I didn’t connect with the characters in this story. Right from the start, we learn that Casey is not a likable character - and neither is his half-brother David. They have gathered on the occasion of their father’s death. David is the legitimate son; Casey is the son of a mistress. And then we find out there is yet another half-sibling, Gabriella, a daughter of the housekeeper. A relationship develops between Casey and Gabriella (who he just met, to be fair - it’s not as if they knew each other growing up. Still….). During the course of the book the author includes examples of the tension between year-round residents vs. summer residents, black vs. white, Christian vs. Jewish, rich vs. poor. There are quite a few side characters whose stories don’t get fleshed out enough. Also sometimes it was hard to immediately figure out who the narrator was, as it kept changing.
“Greetings” is a pretty dark story. CW: drugs, alcohol abuse, sexual assault, anti-Semitism.
Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
“Greetings” is a pretty dark story. CW: drugs, alcohol abuse, sexual assault, anti-Semitism.
Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
April 1, 2022
I had mixed feelings on this book. I had a hard time getting into it, partially because of the large number of characters. The POV changed every chapter and while I like to see different sides of the story like that, there was no way to distinguish whose perspective each chapter was so it would take a bit to determine each time which took me a bit out of the story. I do like family dramas that are heavy on the drama and boy did this meet that requirement. It’s also very dark subjects with just a touch of hope. The writing is descriptive and at times lyrical and beautiful, but the dialog was often choppy and stilted. I felt like I needed more character development, and that at times I was missing the motivation for why things were being said or done. It is primarily a character driven story, but I struggled to connect to any of the characters. There are some major trigger warnings on this one as well, that I’d recommend you check out on Story Graph prior to picking this one up. If you are looking for a darker tone family drama that deals with some serious issues, you might want to give this one a try! 2.5⭐️ rounded up
Read
August 12, 2022DNF. I tried, I really did. It was trying to be one of those epics with all of these story strands woven together. But not only was each of these strands cliche, it had already been done much more effectively by another author. Another book where style got in the way of story.
October 16, 2023
At first I enjoyed the book because of how I could identify with the places that were mentioned and the descriptions of the various communities within the area. But then the story took over and kept me interested.
October 29, 2022
I love the synoposis but that is about the only positive thing I can say.
NE
NEX
NEXT!
NE
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NEXT!
Read
August 4, 2025Another reviewer said it best so I'm simply going to leverage their words: I feel conflicted about this book.
July 13, 2022
Interesting characters and a great location weren't enough to get past the cliches. Many good themes to explore were noted and dropped. None of the characters were ever fully realized. It was all descriptions, often overwrought, that ultimately didn't matter to the story. Great potential: use an iconic location and it's mystique to explore its impact on a group of characters at a particular time. If that is what you're looking for, 'Let the Great Wprld Spin' by Volum McCann is an excellent choice.
SPOILER ALERT
David's next of kin would have been his Mom, not his half siblings....just not a good book
SPOILER ALERT
David's next of kin would have been his Mom, not his half siblings....just not a good book
July 31, 2022
I usually like small-town stories and dysfunctional families, but...this wasn't for me. I couldn't connect to any of the characters and I didn't understand why the POVs kept shifting. Once the incest started, I started checking out. (WHY has this become such a trend in recent years? I really really hate it.)
This author probably shouldn't write Black characters either, tbh. His depiction of them was...uncomfortable, to say the least.
Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.
This author probably shouldn't write Black characters either, tbh. His depiction of them was...uncomfortable, to say the least.
Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.
September 6, 2022
THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST OFFENSIVE BOOKS I HAVE EVER READ
Repeating hate speech does not make it literature
There is no excuse for using words like "faggot", "kike", or "shiksa cunt" - and those were the words encounteed in the first half of the book. I stopped reading at page 130.
Who knows what other groups of people the author enjoyed offending in the second half of the book, but I'm not going to waste my time in order to find out.
Repeating hate speech does not make it literature
There is no excuse for using words like "faggot", "kike", or "shiksa cunt" - and those were the words encounteed in the first half of the book. I stopped reading at page 130.
Who knows what other groups of people the author enjoyed offending in the second half of the book, but I'm not going to waste my time in order to find out.
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