Growing Up at Grossinger's

The story of an American landmark where generations of New Yorkers beat the summer heat, and the fun never ended—Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel.

From 1919 to 1986, if you were Jewish and lived in New York City, there was one word that could make you sigh with longing—Grossinger's. Founded as a simple backwoods retreat, the resort grew to cover 1,200 acres and become the premier summer destination where the great and the not-so-great mingled, drank, danced, and romanced the summers away. A true melting pot of the Borscht Belt, sports, and show-biz worlds, its loyal visitors included Rocky Marciano, Mel Brooks, and Jackie Robinson.

This is the world where Tania Grossinger grew up.

In this fascinating insider's account, she sheds light on what it was like to live in the place where everyone else wanted to be—from dealing with thousands of strangers coming into your home expecting to be treated like royalty, finding clever ways to have fun and just be a kid while staying out of everyone else's way, coming to grips with the daunting world outside of Grossinger's, and stumbling onto startling discoveries like adults who drink, curse, fight, and have actual sex.

Growing Up at Grossinger's is both a wonderful coming-of-age story and "a delightful look at how America, especially Jewish America, enjoyed itself before the airplane took us in different directions" (Publishers Weekly).

INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS

"To be devoured in one non-stop gulp . . . fascinating reading." —The New York Post
"Tania Grossinger's childhood was the stuff of modern fairytales. Like a version of Kay Thomson's Plaza Hotel-dwelling Eloise by way of 'Dirty Dancing.'" —Jewish Daily Forward