Saint Mazie

Publisher Marketing: Meet Mazie Phillips: big-hearted and bawdy, she s the truth-telling proprietress of The Venice, the famed New York City movie theater. It s the Jazz Age, with romance and booze aplenty even when Prohibition kicks in and Mazie never turns down a night on the town. But her high spirits mask a childhood rooted in poverty, and her diary, always close at hand, holds her dearest secrets. When the Great Depression hits, Mazie s life is on the brink of transformation. Addicts and bums roam the Bowery; homelessness is rampant. If Mazie won t help them, then who? When she opens the doors of The Venice to those in need, this ticket-taking, fun-time girl becomes the beating heart of the Lower East Side, and in defining one neighborhood helps define the city. Then, more than ninety years after Mazie began her diary, it s discovered by a documentarian in search of a good story. Who was Mazie Phillips, really? A chorus of voices from the past and present fill in some of the mysterious blanks of her adventurous life. Inspired by the life of a woman who was profiled in Joseph Mitchell s classic "Up in the Old Hotel," "Saint Mazie" is infused with Jami Attenberg s signature wit, bravery, and heart. Mazie s rise to sainthood and her irrepressible spirit is unforgettable." Review Citations: Library Journal Prepub Alert 01/01/2015 pg. 70 (EAN 9781455599899, Hardcover) Kirkus Reviews 03/01/2015 (EAN 9781455599899, Hardcover) Publishers Weekly 04/06/2015 (EAN 9781455599899, Hardcover) Romantic Times 06/01/2015 pg. 40 (EAN 9781455599899, Hardcover) Entertainment Weekly 05/15/2015 pg. 64 (EAN 9781455599899, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  Attenberg, Jami Jami Attenberg is the author of the story collection "Instant Love" and several novels, including "The Kept Man", "The Melting Season", and "The Middlesteins", which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She has contributed essays and criticism to the" New York Times", " Real Simple", " Elle", the" Washington Post", and many other publications. She lives in Brooklyn.