Too Bad About Mrs. Ferri

The short chapter entitled "Too Bad About Mrs. Ferri," in August Kleinzahler's book "Cutty, One Rock" begins with the assassinaton of a mobster named Albert Anastasia, who lived down the block from Kleinzahler. As an 8-year old living in a rough New Jersey neighbourhood, Kleinzahler recalls the events of that day vividly, still perfectly capable of running off the names of some of the more famous Jersey mobsters that lived in his town. His mother explains that Albert Anastasia had gotten "very sick," a white lie in an attempt to spare her child the gruesome details of his violent death. Kleinzahler even remembers the time of day - 10:20 a.m. - that Anastasia was killed. Gloriana, Albert's daughter, was a friend of Kleinzahler's at a young age, and the two of them would play in the sandbox together under the supervision of one of Anastasia's "gorilla-sized" bodyguards. August Kleinzahler does a brilliant job of putting himself back into his 8-year-old state of mind, especially when recalling the foul language used by the other children (even at such a young age) in his New Jersey schoolyard. The one vivid memory from his school that he mentions in this chapter is being beaten senseless by "Tommy Grumulia and Anthony Delvecchio," after calling someone a son of a bitch. What I love the most about the way this chapter is described is that it is exactly how an 8 year old would remember these events; everything from Albert Anastasia getting whacked to being beat up by some Italian-American children is explained in an innocent, childish manner, which makes everything that much more believable.