By Bruce Klauber
Given Atlantic City’s rich, long, colorful and sometimes incredible history, it’s no surprise that a number of books have been written about the Queen of Resorts through the years. These range from memoir and straight history, to coffee table-type works chock full of spectacular images. Several of them, published by small publishing houses, are obscure, while others are widely known. All of them are well worth reading, and, thanks to Amazon, almost all of them are available.
Here’s an overview of the best of what’s been published.
One of the best books published about Atlantic City is the1979 book, “Atlantic City: 125 Years of Ocean Madness,” by Vicki Gold Levi and Lee Eisenberg. I bought it when it came out and I still refer to it today.
Levi, an Atlantic City native, has an amazing background in everything Atlantic City. Her father, Albert, was Atlantic City’s “chief photographer,” beginning in 1939. She was a page to Miss America winner Bess Myerson in 1945, had her own children’s radio show on WMID when she was 5 years old, was a consultant to the “Boardwalk Empire” television show and the “Steel Pier” Broadway show, and co-founded the Atlantic City Historical Museum. Her book, written with Lee Eisenberg, then editor of Esquire Magazine, is chock full of historic photos and charming stories about everything from Mr. Peanut to Lucy the Elephant.
Jonathan Van Meter’s “The Last Good Time: Skinny D’Amato the Notorious 500 Club & the Rise and Fall of Atlantic City,” published in 2003, tells the story of iconic nightspot, the legendary celebrities who performed there, owner Skinny D’Amato’s alleged connections to organized crime and a family beset by scandal and tragedy.
While the 500 Club is the book’s focalpoint, Van Meter seamlessly ties everything together to fashion a roller-coaster of a story about the rise, fall, and rise again of Atlantic City. There has been talk through the years of making the book into a movie. That one would be well worth seeing.
One that fell through the cracks to an extent is a work with one of the longer titles in the publishing world.
“Boardwalk Playground: The Making, Unmaking, & Remaking of Atlantic City: How the people of a New Jersey resort built a seaside paradise, lost it, … town, mostly lost it, and kept on dreaming.”
Written by David Schwartz and first published in 2015, “Boardwalk Playground” presents 100 stories, first published as a monthly series of columns in Casino Connection magazine, about the history of the resort from its founding in 1854. Schwartz covers the hotels, stars, politicians, scandals and just about everything else about the resort through the ages. “Boardwalk Playground” is encyclopedic, and compelling.
Although I haven’t read “Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City,” written by first-time author Jane Wong and released in paperback just a few months ago, it sounds like something worth reading. Described by the Los Angeles Times as “a love letter to Atlantic City and the Asian American working class,” this unique memoir tells of family, food, girlhood, resistance and growing up in a Chinese-American restaurant on the Jersey Shore. “Meet Me Tonight” has garnered dozens of rave reviews.
Also just published in paperback is “Trump in Atlantic City: The Rise and Fall of the Trump Casino Empire.” Ron Alcorn’s book traces Donald Trump’s history in Atlantic City, from the 1984 opening of Trump Plaza, to the 2016 closure of the Trump Taj Mahal. The author knows what he’s talking about. Alcorn spent 20 years as vice president at the Taj Mahal and the Trump Plaza.
Arcadia Publishing/The History Press has published more than 100 titles about the hidden gems in cities of every size across America. Perhaps you’ve seen some of these books, with titles like “Haunted Orlando” and “The Lost Towns of Monroe County, Michigan” on display at Walgreens, CVS or other retailers. Arcadia currently has several Atlantic City-themed books on the market, including “Atlantic City Revisited,” “Atlantic City: Images of America,” the charming “Speaking of Atlantic City” and “Steel Pier,” which is a part of Arcadia’s “Images of America Series.”
Steve Liebowitz, who wrote the Steel Pier book for Arcadia, produced a must-have for Atlantic City aficionados published by Down the Shore Publishing in 2009. “Showplace of the Nation: Steel Pier, Atlantic City” is an oversized, 264-page coffee table book which details just about every aspect of this historic entertainment center.
Rare images of the pier, provided by Atlantic City’s own Robert Ruffolo of Princeton Antiques Book Shop fame, are striking, and Liebowitz’s research is meticulous, thorough and always entertaining. This is not a book to be read once and placed on a bookshelf. “Showplace of the Nation” is, photographically and otherwise, one for the ages.
Perhaps the most popular and widely read book about Atlantic City is “Boardwalk Empire,” The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City.” Written by Hammonton resident and retired Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Nelson Johnson in 2002, “Boardwalk Empire” inspired the top-rated HBO television series which ran for five seasons, beginning in 2010.
This is the description provided by the publisher of the HBO tie-in edition, Plexus Publishing: “Through most of the 20th century, Atlantic City was controlled by a powerful partnership of local politicians and racketeers. Funded by payoffs from gambling rooms, bars and brothels, this corrupt alliance reached full bloom during the reign of Enoch ‘Nucky’ Johnson – the second of three bosses to head the Republican machine that dominated city politics and society.
“In ‘Boardwalk Empire,’ Nucky Johnson, Louis ‘the Commodore’ Kuehnle, Frank ‘Hap’ Farley, and Atlantic City itself spring to life in all their garish splendor. Author Nelson Johnson traces Atlantic City from its birth as a quiet seaside health resort, through the notorious backroom politics and power struggles, to the city’s rebirth as an international entertainment and gambling mecca where anything goes.”
Other books on Atlantic City published through the years and worth seeking out include: “Atlantic City Then and Now,” by Edward Arthur Mauger; “Boardwalk of Dreams: Atlantic City and the Fate of Urban America,” by Bryant Simon; “Nucky: The Real Story of the Atlantic City Boardwalk Boss,” by Frank J. Ferry; “Atlantic City: The Last Hurrah,” by Timothy Roberts; “Atlantic City: The City of Second Chances,” by L.B. Robbins; “Atlantic City, New Jersey: The World’s Greatest Resort,” by the Atlantic Publicity Bureau; “Atlantic City in Living Color,” by Frank Legato; “Atlantic City: America’s Favorite Playground,” by Bill Kent, Robert Ruffolo Jr. and Lauralee Dobbi; “Atlantic City: Behind the Tables,” by John Alcamo, and “Atlantic City: Its Early and Modern History,” by Carnesworthe.
These entertaining and informative books should keep you reading into the next century. Read and enjoy!
Bruce Klauber is the author of four books, an award-winning music journalist, concert and record producer and publicist, producer of the Warner Brothers and Hudson Music “Jazz Legends” film series, and performs both as a drummer and vocalist.
