Utenteaausiello

BROOKLYN '76 SYNOPSIS:

In the heart of Bensonhurst, an Italian American family struggles to survive one explosive day— the nation’s Bicentennial.

The Agnello family wakes Bicentennial morning to the sound of fireworks. Outside their apartment, block party preparations are already underway. Paulie, husband and father, has been out on strike with his union and is desperate to make ends meet. Dee, wife and mother, is overprotective of her children and a stern judge of character, particularly when it comes to Paulie. Tony, the dutiful elder son who is fast coming of age, now obsesses over his first girlfriend and stands ready to defy his parents to spend the Fourth with her. Alex, the younger son, still sees the world through innocent eyes, a perspective unlikely to survive the day.

As the neighborhood celebrates, a string of public missteps drives the family apart, forcing each Agnello to face their own insecurities and regrets. At nightfall, the fireworks extravaganza draws the scattered family back together—but celebration soon turns into tragedy, and one life is left hanging in the balance. Funny, dark, and unsentimental, Brooklyn '76 is an urgent family drama set against the backdrop of a working-class neighborhood—and a country—on the brink of transformation.

Anthony Ausiello earned a BA in English from the Pennsylvania State University and an MFA in creative writing from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Between degrees, he spent two decades in corporate America. Brooklyn '76 is his debut novel. Brooklyn born and bred, Anthony now lives in Westfield, New Jersey, with his wonderful wife, Talia, and his amazing children, Anya and Eli.