Stevan Allred

“David Ciminello is a writer with an ear for gritty urban rhythms, a love of wordplay, and a gift for making the nostalgic past relevant today. His prose is earthy and incantatory all at once. His novel is a delicious stew—an operatic fan letter to the real-life aunt who inspired the titular character, a paean to the Italian immigrant experience, a quest for a missing child, a family cookbook—and always a comedy heightened by its tragic elements. The Queen of Steeplechase Park crackles with the hyper- real comic book energy of a graphic novel, and the recipes are a primer on how to live your best life. Buon appetito! Mangiare bene! Delizioso!”

—Author of The Alehouse at the End of the World