Gerade DeMichele – Gerade DeMichele

Our Bathtub Wasn’t In The Kitchen Anymore!

In this coming-of-age tale that spans the 1950s and 1960s in the South Bronx, follow a young man through his journey from toddler to adulthood as he navigates family, friendship, and education. At times humorous, at other times gut-wrenching, his experiences of Catholic school, as a young athlete, and as a witness to street violence are laid out bare on the page. The novel also explores the stories of families, some having lived in their small enclave for generations, forced to abandon their neighborhood as it undergoes societal upheaval.

Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

BOOK REVIEW

Our Bathtub Wasn’t in the Kitchen Anymore is a work of fiction in the historical, coming of a age and urban life sub-genres, and was penned by author Gerade DeMichele. Set in the 1950s and 1960s in the United States of America, this heartfelt tale follows its protagonist through the experiences of growing up in an Italian family in the South Bronx. From deeply entrenched Catholicism to street violence, hopeful dreams, and gentrification, the work explores how the young and and his wider community try to survive and stay together. What results is a very emotional and realistic work of fiction with plenty of cultural delights and true heart.

Author Gerade DeMichele has crafted a highly immersive and heartfelt novel that clearly comes from a true place deep in the authors’s heart. Readers who have experienced this life and culture are sure to find it an experience of pure nostalgia, but there’s also plenty of trials and tribulations in the plot which keep it fresh and exciting. Despite its historical setting, the work has ties to its future and its place in the world, which makes this a highly accessible read for those who weren’t around at the time but want to learn more about the heritage. One of the features which I enjoyed a great deal about the novel was its flair for dialogue, which really characterizes different figures uniquely, and delivers such a deep understanding of the culture and bone among people. Overall, I would highly recommend Our Bathtub Wasn’t in the Kitchen Anymore to all historical urban fiction fans.

1951
294 East 152^nd Street

I was four years old in 1951 and my earliest memories are of my mornings in our apartment in 294.

While this book is indeed a work of fiction,

it includes many stories based on fact. The names of characters are fictional except for those in my immediate family and closest friend. It is in part a memoir since the events in this book are based on my personal recollections of fifty to sixty years ago, and the story lines approximate reality. The places mentioned, with a couple of exceptions, are real. Morris Avenue, 152nd Street and the Melford Club all existed, as described. Our Lady of Pity grammar school, Cardinal Spellman High School and Hunter College are real. While quotation marks are used in the dialogue, these conversations are fictional but reflect actual exchanges as best as I can remember them.

Our Bathtub Wasn’t In The Kitchen Anymore!

I have authored or co-authored sixteen books of non-fiction, so the writing process is not new to me. I can assure you that the task of writing non-fiction is very different from the effort I had to put in here. While this book is essentially an individual’s story about growing up in the Bronx in the 1950s and 1960s, my goal was also to provide the reader with a window into a neighborhood and a culture that ceased to exist as the borough and the country underwent great demographic and societal changes. In this respect, social historians, sociologists, and urbanists might find some of the descriptions interesting and important. - Gerade DeMichele

Writing a novel is a lot like directing a movie because you are creating a world and a tone, you are creating a large canvas and all the details.

In a good book the best is between the lines.

- Gerade DeMichele

5.0 out of 5 stars I lived it Having grown up in the South Bronx at that time. It was a wonderful memory jogger on how life was how going to Catholic school was and how growing up with a great group of guys. I recommended this book to anyone who wants to know what it was like growing up an Italian neighborhood in the South Bronx in the 50s and 60s.

5.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing story of growing up in an Italian neighborhood in the South Bronx A detailed and engrossing account of growing up in an Italian neighborhood in the South Bronx in the 1950's and 1960's. The 1955 movie Blackboard Jungle is based on the Bronx Vocational school located in the neighborhood. The neighborhood is a strong community linked by family ties, friendships and the local Catholic Church. Its destruction came with urban renewal upending the neighborhood and scattering families. In his high school years, the narrator retains his ties to the old neighborhood and helps establish a social club near his old home. Just a beautiful story.

I finished the book and thoroughly enjoyed it. Left with the feeling that I was a Melford. My impression is that the book is very Hemingway like. Short direct sentences in a series of connected short stories that tie to together in a subtext that capture the life and culture of 152nd Street and Morris Avenue. Very much like Hemingway’s Michigan stories. Excellent character development - Big Momma, Joey V and many more.

Contact Gerade DeMichele

No Fields Found.

Our Bathtub Wasn’t In The Kitchen Anymore!

Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

BOOK REVIEW

1951294 East 152nd Street

While this book is indeed a work of fiction,

Our Bathtub Wasn’t In The Kitchen Anymore!

Writing a novel is a lot like directing a movie because you are creating a world and a tone, you are creating a large canvas and all the details.

Contact Gerade DeMichele

1951
294 East 152^nd Street