cover image Famous Nathan: A Family Saga of Coney Island, the American Dream, and the Search for the Perfect Hog Dog

Famous Nathan: A Family Saga of Coney Island, the American Dream, and the Search for the Perfect Hog Dog

Lloyd Handwerker. Flatiron, $26.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-250-07454-6

The story of the Nathan hot dog establishment is a nostalgic, truly American journey from impoverished immigrant to the eponymous owner of one of the country’s most iconic restaurants, Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs—here told by Nathan Handwerker’s grandson, documentary filmmaker Handwerker. Nathan was born nearly penniless in prewar Poland and emigrated to the U.S. in 1912, at the age of 19. After years of hard work and saving, Nathan opened a hot dog stand which, through his formula of “speed of service, quality of food, and low price,” rose within decades to do the “heaviest retail business in the entire world.” Handwerker relates every knowable detail about Nathan’s Famous: employee tensions, how the potatoes were sourced, even who painted the signs. He also nestles his grandfather’s story in the greater context of family struggles, Coney Island, the history of hot dogs, and the evolving American landscape. The writing is fluid and mostly unsentimental as Handwerker breaks down long-standing myths about the restaurant. He leaves the reader feeling that, even though Nathan is gone and his business has been corporatized, his commitment and character still live on in the heart of the American dream. Agent: Paul Bresnick, Paul Bresnick Literary. (June)