When Brooklyn Was Heaven: A Memoir from Brooklyn to L.A. and Places In-Between

Stan Levenson
Outskirts Press (2011)
ISBN 9781432769956
Reviewed by Joseph Yurt for Reader Views (6/11)


Outside the circles of public school administration and fund raising, most of us have probably not heard of Stan Levenson, author of the autobiographical “When Brooklyn Was Heaven.” However, for any among us with depression-era parents, grandparents or other relatives, his “life-stories” will probably sound familiar. American musician, Lou Reed, said “I don’t like nostalgia unless it’s mine.” But, with all due respect to Mr. Reed, sharing compositions of loosely knit memories is respected globally as a time honored and highly valued means for sustaining the heritage of a culture and a sense of our place within that culture. And, although the eighty-year-old Mr. Levenson crafts his book as a layman writer, he has a   seasoned, professional storyteller style that gives the book a folksy warmth and genuine quality that make for a delightful, historical montage of memories.

The author’s recollections, augmented by those of family and acquaintances, span the years of his young childhood days during the depression, up to the present time. Early in the reading, one gets the sense that the stories could go on forever. And, because of their journal-like style, the book is a bit of a quirky read. Levenson advises the reader in his Preface that “…it doesn’t matter whether you start at the beginning, the middle, or the end. You can pick this book up and enjoy any story on its own for a taste of the time and place it celebrates.”

The fact that most of what Levenson writes, reads like Facebook posts and tweets, also contributes to the books quirkiness. I found myself unconsciously assuming this mindset often when reading his comments on the ordinary aspects of his life in his recollections about high school, college, and summer breaks, his time in the military, the evolution of his work life and his family life, and the summation of the life lessons he has accumulated.

There are many things I like about “When Brooklyn Was Heaven.” Among them, it is a delightful book of memories of some of America’s worst and best of times; in that regard, it offers hope during another one of the country’s worst of times. It is a splendid celebration of storytelling. And, it is a model that encourages laymen to tell their own story; people love to hear someone else’s story!

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