About this title: In this work of non-fiction, the American essayist Verlyn Klinkenborg brings us into the life of a family-owned bar in Buffalo, New York, at a pivotal moment in the history of that family, and of America. In 1947, at the age of 27, Eddie Wenzek inherited his father's tavern and transformed it into "George and Eddie's", a swank nightspot serving highballs and french-fried shrimp. In telling the story of the Wenzek's and their bar, Klinkenborg tells the story of urban life in America, of the immigrant experience, focusing on a time and place where everything began to change, the old way of life ...
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Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. 0394571959 Condition: VERY GOOD. (Book may have one or a combination of the following characteristics: former library book, cover wear, name written inside cover, light underlining/highlighting, remainder mark, etc. Overall, the book is in solid shape. This is a blanket description. Please e us if you require a specific, detailed description of the book condition. We will typically respond within one week of your request). read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf
Date Published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780394571959ISBN:0394571959
Description: Very Good in Very Good jacket. 8.5 x 5.9 x 1. Light general wear. Has pen notation on front blank page. 209 pages. Chronicles the life of a family-owned restaurant in Buffalo, New York, from its days as a prewar Polish tavern to its reincarnation as George & Eddie's, a swank nightspot serving highballs and French-fried shrimp to a generation of optimistic and prosperous Americans. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 1992-03-03
ISBN-13:9780679737186ISBN:0679737189
Description: New in Like New jacket. Book has a slight crease to the bottom front corner of the rear cover; otherwise the book is in excellent condition. Free Tracking information available. read more
Description: Very Good. 0394571959 Stated first edition. 1991 Knopf hardcover. Some light shelfwear to dust jacket. Otherwise clean and tight. Not ex-library. No remainder mark. Presents well in new dust jacket protector. read more
"This is sort of a book-length prose poem that happens to be about a real person, place, and time. I have no idea how Klinkenborg hit upon the idea of writing about Eddie Wenzek and his bar, but it works...except that one is never given a particular reason why this book is about Eddie Wenzek and his bar. Where a more straightforward work of nonfiction would introduce the subject and explain why we should be interested, Klinkenborg introduces the subject by describing how snow falls in Buffalo. It's all rather beautifully done, and touches upon some really big ideas--I found the chapter about the atomic bomb especially memorable:
"If, like President Truman, one thanked God 'that it has come to us instead of to our enemies,' one recognized that at a time of dire need God had given the bomb to the Right Country--a nation of just motives and purity of heart. But was that providential argument strengthened or weakened when the Right Country chose to drop it?"
--but it wasn't until the very end that I felt this was a story, and then only because it had an ending. It's a poignant ending, though. This and Timothy, by the same author, both quite puzzled me, but I suspect I'll come back to his work sometime; I'm still trying to figure it out."
"A friend gave me this book because she knows I love my Buffalo roots. It's an account of Buffalo's boom and fall around the '40s, through the experience of one central character - bar owner Eddie Wenzek - and his family. It's interesting in that it gives a lot of neat information about The Buff, mentioning neighborhoods and places that I know. I enjoyed thinking about my grandparents going to the entertainment venues Klinkenborg lists, back in their heyday. All the same, you could cut out about 2/3 of Klinkenborg's flowery prose (it's stuffed with what my high school English teacher called "10-point words") and you'd still get the same story."
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