NEW paperback

Rust Belt Boy: Stories of an American Childhood Hertneky, Paul

Paul Hertneky is one of millions of baby boomers who fled the industrial north upon fulfilling his parents dreams of a college education He returns to his roots in Ambridge, Pennsylvania in this collection of stories specific to one legendary riverfront plateau and one boys journey, but emblematic of immigrant life and bluecollar aspirations during the heyday of American industry and its crash, foreshadowing one of the largest internal migrations in US historyTable of ContentsA Turning TideHorns in the HollowRust and RestlessnessMilk and HoneyWhere Stories Went to DieThe Front PewSanctuaryThe Nations First EconomyThe Prurient Power of PierogiLife as They Found ItRough and Ready, Tough and TenderMoms Who Put OutA Flame That Water FedPopularity, Politics, and PatronageHumility and Its OppositeSure But Not At All CertainCuriosity as CurseLight and NatureMore Snoop Than SolicitorOf Heroes and HelpersUntetheredDodging a BulletItching All OverLike Ambridge with a CRust: The Patina of PossibilityRescue Amid the RuinsAcknowledgments