You Think It Strange

A remarkable memoir of resisting a legacy of organized crime and creating a new life: “A fascinating read” (Commonweal).
 
Prostitution, gambling, fencing, contract murder, loan-sharking, political corruption and crimes of every sort were the daily trade in Philadelphia’s Tenderloin, the oldest part of town. The Kevitch family ruled this stew for half a century, from Prohibition to the rise of Atlantic City. My mother was a Kevitch.
 
So begins poet Dan Burt’s moving, emotional memoir of life on the dangerous streets of downtown Philadelphia. The son of a butcher and an heiress to an organized crime empire, Burt rejected the harsh world of his upbringing, eventually renouncing his home country as well and forging a new life in the United Kingdom. But in this riveting reappraisal of his childhood, Burt wrestles with the idea that home leaves an indelible mark that can never truly be left behind.