“[The Bookmaker] is Mr. Agovino’s debut book. Here’s hoping it won’t be his last. A writer for various publications and Web sites, Mr. Agovino has produced a charming, evocative memoir about growing up a generation ago in Co-op City, the Bronx.” — New York Times
“Mr. Agovino has crafted a sensitive and engrossing memoir. . . . All of the characters in The Bookmaker are extraordinarily vivid, thanks in part to the author’s uncanny ear for the accents and cadences of New Yorkers of every stripe.” — Wall Street Journal
“Michael Agovino brings a gift for capturing urban sounds and symbols and a keen sense of shifting social status to his memoir of growing up in the Bronx.” — Washington Post Book World
“[A] deeply evocative, pitch-perfect memoir of growing up the son of a bookie in Co-op City in the Bronx in the ‘70s and ‘80s.” — Esquire
“A fascinating coming-of-age story, not only of the author and his Italian-American family, but of Co-op City in The Bronx—the title’s utopia—and a compelling story of a dad who had a city job, but also worked as a bookie.” — New York Post
“[A] memoir that’s sensitive, honest, rooted in New York’s least sexy community.” — New York Observer
“The Bookmaker is a family adventure of the highest order. Michael Agovino has the talent to capture the energy and spunk of his Italian American family and the artistry to tell a fast-paced, highly entertaining story. I couldn’t put it down.” — Danielle Trussoni, author of “Falling Through the Earth”
“The book offers a unique portrait of the mutability of class...Agovino strikes a nice balance between the histories of a beloved place and a turbulent family. A generally engrossing narrative of class and mobility in urban America.” — Kirkus Reviews
“For Agovino and his family, life does not build toward a crescendo. It grows exponentially, then subsides, puttering along, waiting for that next spurt. Throughout it all, family is there. A nice story of an individual coping with a unique situation yet always buttressed by family.” — Booklist
“The Bookmaker is both a hilarious, affecting memoir and a loving street-level portrait of a city—the city—during turbulent times. Michael Agovino writes with grace, confidence, originality, and above all, a natural feel for the rhythm of New York and the one-of-kind characters it produces.” — Jonathan Mahler, bestselling author of “Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning”
“The Bookmaker is socially panoramic in the vein of John Dos Passos, displaying relish for all walks of life. In telling the debt-defying adventures of his family, Agovino has composed a New York City classic.” — Will Blythe, author of “To Hate Like This Is to Be Happy Forever”
