Palm Trees on the Hudson: A True Story of the Mob, Judy Garland & Interior Decorating

Tiber's rollicking prequel to Taking Woodstock has all of the prime ingredients of a madcap literary comic sendup with an enterprising, hapless narrator taking on chic Gotham city with mixed results. Tiber, a writer and producer of television and film, looks closely at his Jewish immigrant parents and his shattered Brooklyn childhood, in which his overbearing mother chipped away at his self-esteem and potential. After coming out as a gay man, he finds contentment and sexual fulfillment in Greenwich Village, with wild parties and a network of friends that propel him to elite status as one of Manhattan's top interior decorators. Tiber balances belly laughs and sincere emotion as he recounts how his infamous birthday party aboard a Hudson River Day Line steamboat went sour, a revealing talk with his beloved Garland during the mayhem, and the antigay sentiment in New York City that led to the 1969 riot at the Stonewall. Readers of his previous offering will enjoy these candid episodes of his remarkable backstory. (Jan.)