Secret Frequencies: A New York Education (American Lives)

In this compelling memoir, John Skoyles guides us through 1960s New York. Caught between his uncle Fred, a mob associate and man-about-town, and his aunt Linda, a secretary at Paramount Pictures on Times Square, the sixteen-year-old finds himself exploring everything from the bars and swank apartments of Manhattan's Upper East Side to the flophouses and haunts of Forty-second Street. Secret Frequencies spins in graceful turns from deadpan hilarity to unflinching bleakness as Skoyles encounters New York’s most comic, absurd, and sometimes dangerous seductions. "In his memoir, John Skoyles guides us through 1960s New York, a city we only thought we knew. Against a backdrop of late-night radio airwaves featuring talk-show kings like Long John Nebel, the sixteen-year-old pairs up with his Uncle Fred, a Mob associated and man-about-town who presses him into the seamy underworld of con games and call girls. At the same time, his Aunt Linda finds him a job as a messenger at Paramount Pictures on Times Square, where she works as a secretary and where Michael Caine and Jane Fonda make cameo appearances." "From the bars and swank apartments of Manhattan's Upper East Side to 42nd Street flophouses and haunts like Hubert's Freak Show, Skoyles comes face to face with New York's most comic, absurd, and sometimes dangerous seductions." "As his aunt notices his transformation, she reveals a shocking side of her own that will twist and charge his journey into adulthood, and she and Fred engage in an escalating rivalry for his allegiance." "Secret Frequencies spins from deadpan hilarity to unflinching bleakness in graceful turns. With pathos, wit, and searing realism, this memoir joins the ranks of classic coming-of-age narratives."--Jacket. Manhattan In The 1960s Comes To Life In This Remarkable Memoir, Capturing All The Strange Splendor Of The City During This Tumultuous Era With Sensitivity And Wit, With Numerous Celebrity Appearances By The Likes Of Jane Fonda, Michael Caine, And Long John Nebel. (biography)