Category: Humor Publisher: The Chris Six Group
ISBN-10: 098991822X
Type: Fiction
Pages: 363
Copyright: Apr 4, 2014
ISBN-13: 9780989918220
Price: $7.99 (eBook)
Brooklyn's freshman city councilman has fans mobbing City Hall, makes the sports and gossip pages, and enters the Golden Gloves. Conservatives on the council declare him Public Nuisance Number One.
Stansfield Kaplan’s a high-powered celebrity for an extreme New York: rich, handsome, twenty-one, in your face. None of this explains why he decided to represent his native Brooklyn on the city council, but it goes a long way to explain how he got in. When Stan signs up for the Golden Gloves, selected portions of hell break loose. When he decides to turn pro--and make his debut on a high-profile championship undercard--the rest of hell follows suit...and they call out the reserves.
It all plays out in a Big Apple where folks still read the paper, wisecracking waitresses staff all-night diners, the Twin Towers stand tall, and celebs rule. Let the games begin!
Excerpt
“We’re in Washington, D.C., where Stansfield Kaplan, the first Jewish president of the United States, is about to be sworn in—”
“Yeah, right. I’m as short as Martin Van Buren, I got a Brooklyn accent worse than Al Smith, and I’m allergic to dogs. This is presidential? And you gotta be born again a few times to get in. You really think the Supreme Court’s gonna—”
“Let Justine have fun,” said Sandy. “She’s got big plans for you.”
“Mr. Kaplan is radiant in his tuxedo and black leather jacket—”
“Don’t forget the electric long johns,” said Mitch. “D.C.’s cold this time of year.”
Stan rolled the window down and waved to the spectators. They appeared to be overwhelmingly young, overwhelmingly female.
“Stannie!” “Stannie!” “Stannie!” “Stannie!”
“The politician as rock star,” said Rochelle. “Brian Jones, member of Parliament.”
On her way to the City Hall steps, Mayor Goldman, former Christmas elf at Macy’s, former Fresh Face girl at Gimbel’s, shook many hands and kissed a few faces. Stan shook a few hands and kissed no one. Police officers kept the more adventurous spectators in check. (One woman handed him a small object that he stuffed in his pocket and examined during lunch: a tiny boxing glove on a key chain, inscribed Kimmie 718/555-2356.) Other new council members recognized him and introduced themselves. A few returning members came up to him, including an older black man whom he’d gotten to know over the summer: “I’ll be heading the finance committee, and I want you on it.”
Stan recognized a few reporters, spotted old rivals from Science, and scanned the crowd for fans from the four Web sites. Stan Central, Talking Politix Café, Stan’s Fight Buddies, Hucklebuck with Stan—all present and accounted for. When his gaze returned to the immediate scene, he found himself face to face and caught off guard by an impeccably dressed woman staring oddly at him.
Charlotte Kelton, a conservative Democrat who had run unopposed in the ritzy East Eighties—he’d read of her re-election in the Manhattan papers—had been annoyed by Stan for roughly a decade and a half: ads, campaign coverage, cover stories (New York’s Most Fascinating People!), his participation in the America and Century shows. (A product of New York old money, she knew well every museum on Museum Mile.) Here, for the first time, she was confronting him in person. She saw women trying to run to him on the steps and was appalled. He looked younger, shorter, and more immature in person than photos or video could ever convey. Was his district made up entirely of children? Whose Chatterton was he wearing? Whose Barcia watch? Wasn’t there some Back to the Future movie for him to be starring in? She turned away, and he recoiled as if slapped.
The older man asked, ”Are you okay?”
“I’m cool.”
Professional Reviews
Five Stars--
Reviewed by Katelyn Hensel for Readers’ Favorite
Stansfield Kaplan, or Stan, is a delightfully in your face New Yorker, much like many New Yorkers can be. No one quite knows why he's on the city council or what he does exactly, but he's got the fighting Brooklyn spirit to be there at least. However, Stan is the kind of guy who likes to keep his celebrity revved up to the max and is about as sexy as the guys in all the superhero movies, so it completely shocks everyone when he decides to sign up for the Golden Gloves. Wisecracks, plot twists, and a bit of insanity ensue, all rounding out this book nicely. Kew Stapleton shines with this funny, slightly spastic take on the reality of New York thinking.
New York Brain is a witty, sharply humorous take on a character's life, and is as fast-paced and churning with life as the city its name honors. While highly entertaining, I did feel that the caboose got ahead of the engine in a few key places. There was nothing outrageous, but sometimes I felt the author's own excitement for getting the plot revving got in the way of actually getting it there. It was as if I had missed a few key details of transitioning that would have made the story flow a bit smoother. Kew Stapleton has hit gold with this one, there's no doubt about that. Although the author was a "new-to-me" writer, I found that I enjoyed reading this work as much as I have my collection of favorite authors whom I've been reading for years. I enjoyed New York Brain immensely and would be happy to look for more from Stapleton in the future!
New York Brain, Reviewed
Reviewed by Richard Willson in The Politicus
New York is a naked metropolis of eleven million people, and Stansfield Kaplan is more than just an ordinary denizen of the city, but a modern man-about-town, a sincere young gentleman from Brooklyn with a mean pair of hands that could fire up an electric guitar with the best rockers, trade leather in the boxing ring with the baddest puglists, and caress the cares of those he loves - his savvy mom Rochelle, his composer father Mitch, his fashionable sister Justine, and his main lady Sandy - all while putting his mind and his mettle in running for City Council and bringing new life to City Hall, shaking up the establishment like no other public servant could.
Yet Stan is not your typical Democrat. He's a lone wolf who honors the old school of liberalism - genuine, selfless and simply does what his heart tells him is right, not guided by the guardians of Tammany Hall clubroom schematics - and yet his boyish charm, wit and grace wins over not only his fellow Brooklynites, but all of New York who believes in a true democratic society. Yet someone this incorruptible rubs several politicos the wrong way: not only do the so-called liberals have suspicions about Stan's lack of pretense, but his trust in others brings the wrath of the Republicans and DINOs in the City Council, in particular one councilwoman who is determined to start an inquisition and bring this young firebrand down, acting as a venal and reprehensible Torquemada, relentless to destroy Stan and all he stands for.
All of this, and much more, is the story of a man who stands tall among New York Brain, a tale that can only happen in the Big Apple, and written with deft brilliance by Kew Stapleton, a native Gothamite who knows what it takes to succeed in a dog-eat-dog-town, and succeeds in capturing Stan, his family, his friends and his foes with colorful language and commanding the narrative with a natural flow that embodies the fast-paced atmosphere of a 1930s Warner Brothers movie by setting it in contemporary times. This book is a must for anyone who loves characters who think fast and roll with the punches, laughing in the face of adversity and facing tragedy with grit and guts. Stan Kaplan is a true winner, brought to life by Kew Stapleton, a new giant in the literary world.
