This historical novel is a hybrid, containing the actual journal a 19-year-old man kept from April 1933, when he joined the CCCs, through his tour in Yellowstone Park, and his return home to Brooklyn in September.
Using the journal verbatim as a plot device, the bulk of the book contains what he might have omitted, what he might have been, the relationships he might have formed, the deaths he might have experienced, and the lover he might have left behind in Montana.
The son of Sicilian immigrants at the height of the Depression, this young man's future was grim. But then he joined the CCCs, and everything changed. He became a man, both physically and emotionally. His body grew stronger each day, and he took on tasks he never would have attempted before. He climbed trees and mountains, cleared heavy vegetation for trails and roads, fought raging forest fires, and slept under the stars when he could take a break from the fires. He became a leader of men, rather than a follower of boys, which he had been back in Brooklyn.
Sicilian parents shaped their children, especially their sons, through a series of unwritten rules, designed to help young Italian men navigate life's challenges in a new country. This man's conflict revolves around the fundamental mandate: Young men must not leave Brooklyn; they should meet and marry an Italian woman (preferably Sicilian) and settle near the man's parents. He witnessed this all around him before he left. But his experiences in Yellowstone and its surrounding towns affected him. Does he stay in Montana with the woman he madly loves, or does he leave her behind?
All this takes place in the background of the Depression and includes passages from FDR's Inauguration speech and Fireside Chats, which inspired this young man. He sees bread lines, the homeless living in Hoovervilles, and the Boxcar Children. He visits the Chicago World's Fair en route to Montana. And he takes in everything Yellowstone has to offer--the wildlife, the geysers, the hot springs, and the fresh air.
This book reveals the fabric in America, a nation of different ethnicities and cultures weaved together. Each person has their own story, but we have much in common, too. This book made me think of my time in the USAF, not because of what I did, but what it taught me about myself and how it impacted my future. For that, I'm grateful that I read it.
Brooklyn to Yellowstone, by Michael LoMonico, is a delightful read. It is at once a celebration of the Civilian Conservation Corps of the Great Depression, and a son's deeply emotional search for a more complete understanding of a father who died too young. It is also a creative melding of a fascinating but incomplete journal kept by the author's father, and the author's logical and heartfelt effort to fill in the missing or incomplete episodes of his father's youthful odyssey.
The book also looks at the impact the Great Depression had on families. It's a story worth reading, both for it's insight to the history of the era and the struggles families endured to survive.
Like watching a movie
LoMonico's structure, mixing actual journal entries from his father's adventures with fictional narrative, paints a vivid picture worthy of a Hollywood epic. From the tough streets of Brooklyn to the wilds of Wyoming, we are immersed in the most intimate details of his Depression era plight. Yet we can also feel the bigness of our country's manifest destiny, the tension in its racial diversity and the power of ethnic traditions. I couldn't put this book down.
What a wonderful read! Any guy who was lucky enough to grow up in Boleyn will absolutely love this odyssey. Michael created quite a tribute to his dad. A "must read " for anyone interested in a true life American saga.
An American experience, a slice of time and a life in 1933. Very well written and an enjoyable read. Highly recommend this piece of family history.
Michael LoMonico shows his passion for all literature, especially Shakespeare, by writing, speaking, and leading workshops in 40 states as well as in Canada, England, and the Bahamas.Until 2019, Michael was the Senior Consultant on National Education for the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC. Since 1986, he had worked at the Teaching Shakespeare Institute at the Folger as an institute director and master teacher. He organized and directed two-day and week-long Folger Institutes across the U.S. He also served as Secretary for the Shakespeare Theater Association. Michael is the author of a novel, "That Shakespeare Kid" and the reference book," Shakespeare 101," published by Random House. He recently published the Second Edition of "The Shakespeare Book of Lists." He was the founder and editor of Shakespeare magazine, published by Cambridge University Press and Georgetown University. He was an assistant to the editor for the curriculum section of all three volumes of the Folger's Shakespeare Set Free series, published by Washington Square Press. He was also the technical editor to The Complete Idiots Guide to Shakespeare.He was the guest editor for September 2009 "Teaching Shakespeare" edition of the English Journal and was also the guest editor for the CEA Critic, a publication of the College English Association.He was on the Board of Trustees of The Arabian Shakespeare Festival and is currently on the Board of The Saratoga Shakespeare Company. Michael taught high school English on Long Island for 33 years and English Methods and Adolescent Literature at Stony Brook University.
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