Gowanus Crossing: A Brooklyn Boyhood

In this brisk and witty debut memoir, journalist Coppola (The Big Casino) looks back on his life in Brooklyn’s Gowanus neighborhood during the mid-20th century. The narrative spans from Coppola’s boyhood to his college years at the Columbia School of Journalism, with passages recounting his returns to Gowanus as an adult. Each chapter brims with distinctive portraits of larger-than-life Italian Americans with nicknames like “Muzzi, Funzi, [and] Blubberhead.” Some flee the neighborhood to make something of themselves, some meet tragic ends, but all endure the perils of toxic waterways, mafia violence, and predatory priests. Though Coppola dedicates plenty of space to evoking the electric pulse of 1960s Brooklyn, where residents lived “under one immutable commandment: never talk, never rat, never confide in an outsider,” he’s even better when focusing on his family. His account of his brother’s harrowing fight against AIDS and the final hours of his mother’s life are shot through with raw grief and unconditional love, lending the sometimes-lurid narrative a welcome poignancy. Fast-paced, vital, and characterized by a complicated nostalgia, this portrait of a bygone era is difficult to put down. (June)