Hell's Kitchen

New York: Pantheon Books. Very Good+ in Near Fine dj. (c.1977). First Edition. Hardcover. [some foxing to edges of text block (mostly top edge), no other significant wear; the jacket shows just a bit of age-toning along the spine]. A novel drawing on the author's own childhood (specifically the kids he ran with) in New York's tough Hell's Kitchen during World War I -- a "solid Irish" neighborhood where "if you weren't Irish it could be a special kind of hell." The book follows the four kids in the 1-4-Alls gang, each with a different ethnic heritage: German, Polish, English and Italian....not a Mick in the bunch. Not to be confused (as many have) with the author's 1952 short story collection (a paperback original) of the same title. .