A Boardwalk Story

Author(s): J Louis Yampolsky

Location(s): Atlantic City, New Jersey

Genre(s): Fiction

Era(s): 1939

This first novel by J. Louis Yampolsky is a vivid coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of 1939 Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was the tenth year of the Great Depression, and, in Europe, war clouds were gathering. The novel is narrated by fifteen-year-old Jack Laurel, who lives with his parents and kid sister in a rented third-story apartment above a bakery on Ventnor Avenue. A number of story threads are woven throughout the novel, supported by a cast of a dozen memorable characters. There are youthful adventures, sexual awakenings, conflicts with neighborhood bullies, and interactions with boardwalk entertainers, prostitutes, and mobsters.In the main story, young Jack stumbles into trading cocoa futures with two men: Alan Goren, a reclusive mystic, and Benny James, a flamboyant boardwalk pitchman and mathematical savant. The boardwalk fortuneteller, Zena, plays a key role as her glimpses into the future seem to predict the movement of cocoa prices. A partnership forms to cash in on Benny’s gift for numbers and Zena’s powers—in spite of her warnings that she is not clairvoyant and nothing should be read into her musings.Atlantic City mob boss Bobo Trucci, intrigued by the commodities game and the uncanny track record of the partnership, muscles in. The partners make a big score by guessing right that there will be a war, and guessing right—almost to the day—that it will start in September. When they discover that their broker is a crook, running a “bucket shop” with no means of covering their investments, they must face the wrath of the boss, who wants his money—no excuses.There is a history lesson in these pages, as young Jack follows the news of Germany’s march on Poland and the hapless drifting of European leaders in to war. There’s a virtual primer on commodities trading, as well as a lesson in how to operate a mob in a resort town.Here, too, is nostalgia for the days when Atlantic City was the Playground of the World, the home of gilded Arabesque hotels and elegant shops. Men strolled the boardwalk in navy blue blazers and creamy flannel trousers with women on their arms in long dresses, stylish hats, and satin gloves to the elbows. The Steel Pier was the grandest entertainment spot in the world. For 35 cents, you could spend the whole day swaying and dancing to the most famous of the crooners and big bands, laugh at the country’s top comics, and watch first-run movies in four separate movie houses. You could thrill to acrobats, jugglers, and the famous diving horse, and travel to the ocean floor in a glass capsule.

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