'Prostitution, gambling, fencing, contract murder, loan sharking, political corruption and crime of every sort were the daily trade in Philadelphia's Tenderloin, the oldest part of town. The Kevitch family ruled this stew for a half a century, from Prohibition to the rise of the Atlantic City. My mother was a Kevitch.' This punchy yet lyrical memoir is magically rendered, vividly evoking the smell, heat, atmosphere and raw emotion of downtown Philadelphia. From his sprawling extended family to every day faces he sees on the streets, Dan Burt deftly brings each character alive with empathy, a dark humour and feeling.