Live Fast, Die Young: A Memoir Of The 1970s

Take a journey back to the ‘70s when life was simpler – or was it? Here, Richard Vetere offers a collection of 8 short stories that form a memoir of life in New York and its boroughs for a teenager with long greasy hair, blue jeans and jacket, and brown suede shows – a tossup between the poet Lord Byron and Paul Newman’s character in The Hustler. From a Woodstock without music at Hot Dog Beach on Memorial Day Weekend to a North Eighth Street romance with a knockout sexy babe named Georgia, you’ll play literary wingman. The book’s title comes from an admonition by his pal Sal while they’re working a grave fillers at Mount Olivet cemetery, great advice for wise guy kids. “I grew up in Queens and never wanted to be anything else but a published poet,” writes Vetere. As you will discover, he achieved that goal.

Richard Vetere’s first novel The Third Miracle was named one of the best debut novels of the year 1997 by Library Journal and garnered rave reviews. Mr. Vetere was hired by Francis Ford Coppola to co-write the screenplay adaptation. Over the years Mr. Vetere has written screenplays and adaptations for Paramount, Warner Bros, New Line and Zoetrope. Mr. Vetere wrote the most viewed teleplay ever shown on CBS TV, The Marriage Fool, an adaptation of his own stage play of the same title. His acclaimed novel The White Envelope was published by Absolutely Amazing eBooks. It was a 2019 Whodunit Award winner.