Lost in Yonkers by Neil Simon
(1992) 128 pages

Lost in Yonkers by Neil Simon is a 1942 play format written book about 2 young brothers Jay and Arty. The story begins with the two boys forced to live with their strict and cold hearted Grandmother in Yonkers New York after the loss of their mother. Their father–Eddie–goes along with this action because he is all alone and is required to travel much more for work and earn money to pay off some debts. This leaves the two brothers to experience life with their “rough and tough” cold-hearted Grandma Kurnitz, their mentally challenged Aunt Bella, and their gangster Uncle Louie who is two of the 5 children Grandma has. This play truly comes to life with emotion, trauma, family and love.

Plays might be the best work of literature in my opinion. Not only does it produce a mini movie in your mind like an actual on stage play, but also it allows for the author to incorporate emotion and truly show how characters react towards each other. Jay and Arty always see their Grandmother as a cold hearted mean old lady, even with her own candy shop Grandma Kurnitz never allows them to openly take the candy and they always have to abide by her strict rules. In the story Aunt Bella’s drama is actually really intriguing and takes so many turns in the story especially with the dialogue now being more precisely shown in plays than regular novels. Overall this play is a really fun and intriguing read to all.