A New York Times Bestselling Author -- Fans of Russo's fiction will recognize Gloversville, New York, where the author grew up. By the 1950s prosperity in that manufacturing town was being replaced by poverty and illness, everyone barely scraping by. A world elsewhere was the dream his Mother instilled in Rick and strived for herself, and their subsequent adventures and tribulations -- beautifully recounted here -- were to prove lifelong, as would Gloversville's fearsome grasp on them both.