Since Michael Chabon endorsed this book and the author had won a place at Yaddo to write parts of it, I thought that I was in for a treat of a read, and yay! it was 450 pages of reading.Well, yes and no. The book has a great premise -- ganglife and a new immigrant's experiences in 1880s New York -- but it waffles between a full-fledged historical novel (like Edward Rutherfurd's works) and the second draft of a literary work. If the author had taken on one of the genres, and fully explored that rather than trying to blend the two, perhaps this would have been a more satisfying read for me. It's definitely "readable" but doesn't live up to the accolades on the jacket.But because I saw some moments of good storytelling and a good handle on the dramatic pace, I have hope the author's next work will be much improved over this piece.