Yonkers Books

Lipstick on a Pig

Patricia Vaccarino

October 21, 2023

What happens in the Book World impacts my life. I am the author of ten books. I am also a consumer of books, and read two books a week, often more. I immerse myself in articles and newsletters that focus on the Book World. The recent NYT article Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free, dated October 17, 2023, is about how Barnes and Noble is re-decorating many of its stores to resemble small independent bookstores. It’s ironic that this behemoth chain wants to look more like the small Indie bookstores that it had once been intent on driving out of business.

Comments

Books

Thoreau the Meter Transcendental Treks on the Noir Shift

Patricia Vaccarino

October 05, 2022

In “Thoreau the Meter: Transcendental Treks on the Noir Shift,” Joseph Ferguson writes about journeys on the road, albeit road trips, that weave in and out of Yonkers as though this city is a roundabout located on Main Street in the midst of America. Two parts Charles Bukowski (without over-the-top descriptions of bodily functions ) and one part Jack Kerouac (the journey takes us everywhere and nowhere).

Comments

Books

Books We Love: Yonkers in the Twentieth Century

Patricia Vaccarino

May 08, 2020

For anyone who is interested in the 20th Century history of Yonkers, this book is a must-read. Also, anyone who is interested in the history of American cities that have roots in an 18th Century colonial past and an industrial 19th Century past will also benefit. Author Marilyn E. Weigold does a fine job of unfolding the city’s rich history which is rooted in the waves of immigrants who found their way to America to seek jobs with a good living wage and a safe place to raise their families.

Comments

Books

NOTES FROM THE WORKING-CLASS: Young Flesh

Patricia Vaccarino

August 31, 2019

I remember being 16 and needing no other beauty accoutrement than a dab of gloss on my flesh-colored lips. I also remember creepy old men stalking me because I was young, pretty and wearing a high school uniform. Filthy old fools. They were everywhere: in the subway, in alleys, standing by bus stops or on the street in front of hotels as fancy as the Pierre and museums as old as the MET.