Long Island Purgatory
by Bradley Lewis
Publisher's Summary
Long
Island Purgatory is a touching, funny, memoir with fictional elements that
captures the voice of a soon-to-be thirteen-year-old, skeptical of approaching
adulthood. Bennie-The-Brain, as some of his classmates and townspeople refer to
him, is caught up in the aftermath of the shock waves from the JFK
assassination. Perhaps intelligent beyond his years, Bennie is about to face
something even more powerful than the death of his hero, something that he
cannot fathom. This unusual but real treatment of racial upheaval and urban
transformation in Laurelton, investigates the impact of blockbusting on the
lives of Bennie, his family, and the rest of the mostly Jewish town.
Blockbusting refers to a practice in which real estate agents sold a house on an
all-white block to an African-American family. The panic among the remaining
residents has often been referred to as “white flight”. Lewis describes a widely
forgotten phenomenon of recent social history, including his own real-life
horrors and painful memories. Inside this strikingly candid, vividly written
account of his experience, he takes us behind the scenes in 1963. We journey
with him through both frank and poignant vignettes that convey the human cost of
racism. Long Island Purgatory tells a powerful and deeply personal story that
allows us an unprecedented look back at a sad piece of our history.
Available in Print and Audible Amazon
