"Fascination" is a novella that takes a series of unblinking written pictures of the less than stellar days of New York City in 1971 as seen through the eyes and rowdy adventures of a teenage boy exploring the frontiers of Fun City the summer before he entered, and then escaped his own high school demons in New Jersey. Tony Mangia's "fictional-memoir" pays attention to many details of the turbulent times—in a both pop culture and social issue sense—and is right on target. It isn't all politically correct, but neither were those times. And through all of the wonder and notoriety of that city, he somehow finds some goodness and redemption. It might even be called a love letter to the Ugly Duckling New York City of the '70s.
The story follows the 14 year-old's journey through the "White Flight" suburbs and his coming of age visits to that gritty New York City during an important mind-shaping, and altering, era of his life. The lessons learned come mostly from darkly humorous experiences and raucous escapades in the decaying yet colorful city, and are centered around a seedy Times Square arcade called Fascination—a hangout that "could take more than just a kid's money." At Fascination, where he meets city kids his own age, but of different colors and socio-economic backgrounds, the teen observes things close up—much of it not safe, good or even legal, but all of it fondly remembered. In one instance, he recalls Fascination as a melting pot of gangs, runaways and those who had nowhere else to go:
"Most chickens seemed to embrace the lifestyle, mainly because Fascination provided them with a safe haven. Some of them got busted up pretty bad just for being queer out on the street. Black eyes and even broken arms on some of the frailer ones—the results of hate-fueled muggings or beatdowns—weren’t uncommon. At least at Fascination, they had something of a sanctuary among their own kind."
Fascination is available on Amazon Kindle and as a paperback.
