Late one night in the summer of 1897, Morris Massimo Levy, nearly sixteen, of mixed Italian-Catholic and East-European Jewish background, watches as the father of the girl he loves is dropped from the Brooklyn Bridge by the notorious Jewish gang leader (and actual historical figure) Monk Eastman. The event helps propel Morris into a dangerous involvement in the notorious wars between the ethnic gangs of the Lower East Side of New York City and prompts his initiation, despite his idealistic impulses, into the ruthless means one often needed to survive and flourish in early modern America.

Allen Stein was born in the Bronx and is Professor Emeritus of English at North Carolina State University. His stories and poems have appeared in numerous journals, among them The Hudson Review, Poet Lore, Prairie Schooner, Valparaiso Review, and Salmagundi. He is also the author of two poetry collections, Your Funeral Is Very Important to Us and Unsettled Subjects: New Poems on Classic American Literature.