Hollywood via Orchard Street

by Wayne Clark

Overview

Deciding that the hopelessness he sees around him on New York's squalid Lower East Side during the Great Depression isn't for him, a young man invents an alter ego with the chutzpah he hopes will make a name for himself. In the process he accidentally ignites a war between the Irish mob and a Chinese tong, learns to drink and finds love for the first time. Will he and his alter ego ever reunite? They will have to if he doesn't want to lose the love of a beautiful Broadway actress.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781775191513
Publisher:	Wayne Clark YUL/NYC
Publication date:	07/02/2018
Pages:	262
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.55(d)

About the Author

Wayne Clark is a Montreal writer and author of the historical novels Hollywood via Orchard Street (2018) and That Woman: Beating the odds in Colonial New York (2017), as well as the international award-winning literary fiction novel he & She (2013). In addition to writing fiction he has worked as a journalist, copywriter and translator.

Editorial Reviews

As I read Wayne Clark's marvelous historical fiction novel, Hollywood via Orchard Street, I couldn't help but wonder how much more Charles Czerny could do with all the modern conveniences of the internet at his fingertips, but then again, he does quite spectacularly with what's available in his day and at his age. Clark's coming of age tale is rich with the nuances and culture of Orchard Street and the people who lived in the Lower East Side during the Great Depression. I loved following as Charles gets involved in the newspaper trade and the trade wars between rival publishers, and marveled at the classic feel of this story about determination and belief in oneself. Clark's plot is a grand one, and his characters are larger than life. Hollywood via Orchard Street is most highly recommended...

5 stars; Reviewed By Jack Magnus - Readers' Favorite

HOLLYWOOD VIA ORCHARD STREET is the story of an aspiring young writer who finds himself mixed up with mob bosses in Depression-era New York City. The novel feels like a film produced during that time, right down to the OG [original gangster] slang and love-at-first-sight love story. Wayne Clark does an amazing job of conjuring the feel of Golden Age films in HOLLYWOOD VIA ORCHARD STREET. Like an old movie day on the couch, there's a quaint comfort when the real world waits outside and a breezy tale of dangerous guys and delicate dolls sweeps you away...

Rob Errera - IndieReader

2018-08-14

In this coming-of-age novel, a young man tries to attain his dreams through luck and pluck.

In Clark's (That Woman, 2017, etc.) Depression-era tale, Charles Czerny has led a sheltered life. Now in his 20s, he shares a small, dingy apartment on the Lower East Side with his mother, who has become increasingly distant following the early death of her lover, the man Charles called Uncle. The only thing Charles inherited from Uncle was his truck, Blue. Charles uses Blue to deliver bundles of newspapers to newsboys, but he also aspires to become a reporter someday. The naïve Charles is soon also earning extra money by doing special jobs for the Irish mob, which protects the papers he delivers. Charles, who uses the nom de plume Bulldog, then gets in over his head by taking part in a convoluted plot to murder a theater critic who gave a bad review to a musical that starred the mob boss's girlfriend. Worse yet, he falls for the starlet. To save her and himself from that kingpin, Charles recruits a rival gang, a Chinese tong, to intercede on their behalf. Will Charles make enough right moves to end up getting the girl and the career he craves? In this story that feels like a tale culled from the golden age of movies, Clark has created a real Horatio Alger-type character in Charles. What Charles lacks in book learning, he makes up for by reading and listening to those in the know. He can also read people. In other words, Charles makes his own luck, albeit sometimes by accident. He is a protagonist readers can root for. The other well-rounded characters are the leaders of the Chinese tong; the players attached to the Irish mob are more one-dimensional. Clark has paced his narrative well, slow enough that Charles' relationships can grow organically yet not too poky. The novel's atmosphere also gives readers a good feel for what was a difficult time to grow up in New York City. The result is a colorful snapshot of one man's mission to pursue his ambitions, whatever the obstacles.

An enjoyable tale that traces the unlikely rise of a good-hearted man surviving humble beginnings.

Kirkus Reviews