My Youth and Early Deaths

Download or read book My Youth and Early Deaths written by Allen Stein and published by Madville Publishing. This book was released on 2024-09-17 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Late one night in the summer of 1897, Morris Massimo Levy, nearly sixteen, of mixed Italian-Catholic and East-European Jewish background, watches as the father of the girl he loves is dropped from the Brooklyn Bridge by the notorious Jewish gang leader (and actual historical figure) Monk Eastman. The event helps propel Morris into a dangerous involvement in the notorious wars between the ethnic gangs of the Lower East Side of New York City and prompts his initiation, despite his idealistic impulses, into the ruthless means one often needed to survive and flourish in early modern America.