Holding on

the long version

This book is a tribute to some of America's greatest characters: people holding on to unique ways of life at all costs. A castle builder, a forty-year-veteran Woolworth's lunch counter waitress, a marriage broker, and the president of the Brooklyn Elite Checker Club are among this varied group of ordinary people who prevail against all odds. Isay and Wang have found fifty-six such people, diehard individualists who speak for themselves, illuminating their remarkable lives and personalities. Isay's compelling and often humorous profiles are accompanied by Wang's wonderful portraits. Henry Roth's foreword is a moving testament to creativity, tenacity, and dignity these people possess.