Allentown -- A Fictional Memoir — William Urban

Allentown starts off on a comic note with an ice storm on Sunday morning, December 14, 1956. But the comedy is short lived, and the heart and soul of Allentown, Pennsylvania, is soon revealed. Inspired as much by the song “Allentown,” by Billy Joel, as the author's experiences growing up in this once mighty industrial town, the book is a thinly disguised memoir that is highly fictionalized. Allentown is both a coming of age narrative and a reflection on how much the country has change since the 1950s.