The Fire Escape Belongs in Brooklyn

A novel based on The Fire Escape Stories

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Pub Date 16 Sep 2017 | Archive Date 30 Sep 2018

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Description

The year is 1968. The world is crumbling around Mike Burns, a disillusioned Brooklyn youth attending his second year of college. His cousin and constant childhood companion, Sally-Boy, went missing two years ago. The two were incredibly close—they called themselves twins because they were born the same day—and Mike still thinks about Sally-Boy relentlessly, even talks to him…but nobody needs to know about that.

Adding to Mike’s problems, his father angrily nags him to cut his hair; a professor fills his head with passionate, troubling ideals; a friend’s draft dodge pulls him into incriminating circumstances; his Jewish roommate is in the doghouse with his own parents for dating the “wrong” girl; and Mike’s love interest—well, she has secrets of her own to deal with.

College parties make a quick fix to Mike’s troubles, but after the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., campus tensions rise to the breaking point. How will Mike deal with the turmoil of young adulthood—existential questions of morality, conscience, obligation—when everything in his life, familiar and new, is falling apart? And, above all, he longs for his cousin. He has to find Sally-Boy.

The year is 1968. The world is crumbling around Mike Burns, a disillusioned Brooklyn youth attending his second year of college. His cousin and constant childhood companion, Sally-Boy, went missing...


Advance Praise

1) "A follow up to the Fire Escape stories (Volumes 1 & 2). An entertaining and fast paced interpretation of the Vietnam and Civil Rights era that defined American culture and politics during the 1960s. The author does a great job of describing the turbulence of that era through the lives of several adolescents striving to understand the world around them. The characters are believable and likable in a way that adds humor and charm to the serious nature of the cultural background of the story. I found the book to be pure entertainment."

2) "This is one of THOSE books- one that you can't put down, but still do not want it to end. I have read several Vietnam era novels, yet none had the effect that The Fire Escape Belongs in Brooklyn did. Through the eyes of the main character, Mike, I was able to re-live the time period that impacted the lives of most people of his generation, including me. Mike is a very compassionate, empathetic, college student who learns to follow his convictions. The relationship he had with his cousin Sally-Boy in the short stories, Fire Escape Stories, Volumes I & II, takes a back seat, but Sally-Boy IS there, in Mike's mind and heart. The author's descriptive narrative is, to put it simply, beautiful. There are so many excellent novels out there today, but The Fire Escape Belongs in Brooklyn is one book that I will re-read!"

3) "In Chuck Cascio's extraordinary novel, "The Fire Escape Belongs in Brooklyn," there's no exit from Mike Burns. The Vietnam War is pursuing him from one side, his conservative father looms on the other. And, pursuing him most urgently, are the haunting questions surrounding the disappearance of his "twin" cousin, Sally Boy.

"Mike's chosen a college that allows him easy access to Brooklyn where, between exploring alluring campus parties and fulminating anti-war protests, he searches for his cousin. He's only slightly distracted when he meets a troubled young woman who rocks his world, and a surprising professor who forces him to examine his morality. Pressures threatening to overtake him, Mike finds himself at a frightening crossroads. He makes a decision that puts his life on a pulse-quickening, dangerous path.

"Not only is the story completely compelling, but Cascio's writing shines with intelligence. It's provocative without being coy, poetic without being indulgent, and it never states the obvious. This is prose at its finest, rendering a fresh, original plot set against the rich backdrop of a conflicted nation at war with itself. The author never tells us how or what to feel; instead he shows us evolving, vivid characters trying to navigate through the chaos. These heart-and-gut-wrenching people will move you to laughter and, more frequently, to tears. You'll never forget them."

4) "Confused by the chaos and divisions of American life? This engrossing, amusing and dramatic book brings to life the tumultuous year 1968 while managing to echo contemporary issues nearly 50 years later. The fun of teenage life comes face to face with social division, political discord, family tension, and a breakdown of trust in government and authority in general. And throughout it all, we keep wanting to know: What happened to Sally-Boy?"

1) "A follow up to the Fire Escape stories (Volumes 1 & 2). An entertaining and fast paced interpretation of the Vietnam and Civil Rights era that defined American culture and politics during the...


Available Editions

ISBN 9781546975830
PRICE US$2.99 (USD)

Average rating from 2 members


Featured Reviews

The Fire Escape Belongs in Brooklyn explores issues surrounding relationships, emotional intelligence, tolerance, and responsibility within the community. As national civil unrest gains momentum in consequence of the explosive and controversial 1968 opposition to the Vietnam war, the assassinations of Kennedy and Martin Luther King culminate in violent rebellion amongst an ever increasing number of the disenfranchised college populace. The book is superbly written and thought-provoking In the extreme.

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Thank you to the publisher for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. This book is written about a particular part of U.S. history (Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination) and a particular point in young college student Mike Burns’ life. Mike’s cousin, who was born on the same day as him disappeared 2 years ago and Mike still thinks about his all of the time. On top of that, there are issues with his father and other supporting characters. This was a good read and captured the essence of that particular time period well.

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