Lorenzo Carcaterra (born October 16, 1954) is an American writer of Italian descent. Hell’s Kitchen is the setting for his most famous book, ''Sleepers'', which was adapted as a 1996 film of the same name. In April 2009, he joined ''

True/Slant ''True/Slant'' (T/S) was an original content news network. It was based in a loft in SoHo in New York City funded with $3 million in capital by Forbes Media and Fuse Capital. It was acquired by Forbes in May 2010. It launched its alpha in April 2 ...

'' as a blogger. True/Slant ceased operations on July 31, 2010 after only being open for a little less than a year total.

Biography

Carcaterra was born in

Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the ea ...

, New York. His family is from the island of

Ischia Ischia ( , , ) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about from Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures approximately east to west ...

, eighteen miles off the coast of

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. He became a journalist in 1980, when his first articles begin to appear in various newspapers. Carcaterra's wife, Susan Toepfer, died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

on December 24, 2013. She was also the mother of Carcaterra's two children, Kate and Nick.

Published works

Novels

* ''A Safe Place'' (1993) * ''Sleepers'' (1995) ** In the book, Carcaterra writes about himself (played in the film by

Jason Patric Jason Patric (born June 17, 1966) is an American film, television and stage actor. He is known for his roles in films such as ''The Lost Boys'', ''Rush (1991 film), Rush'', ''Sleepers (film), Sleepers'', ''Geronimo: An American Legend'', ''Your ...

) and three young friends living in the Hell's Kitchen section of Manhattan in the 1960's. After they stage a street prank that unintentionally leaves a man seriously injured, the book says, the four are sent to an upstate juvenile detention center, where they are brutalized and sexually assaulted by the facility's guards. The Sacred Heart of Jesus Church and School on the West Side of Manhattan, which Carcaterra attended, expressed outrage about Carcaterra's assertions, while the Manhattan District Attorney's office stated that there were no records of a case like the one described in the book. Carcaterra has admitted that he deliberately fictionalized certain details of the story, saying, "You have to change dates, names, places, people. The way they looked; you have to make them look a different way. If it happened here, you have to make it happen there." * ''Apaches'' (1997) * ''

Gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

'' (2001) * ''Street Boys'' (2002) * ''

Paradise City "Paradise City" is a song by the American rock band Guns N' Roses, featured on their debut album, ''Appetite for Destruction'' (1987). Released as a single in January 1989, it is the only song on the album to feature a synthesizer. The song pea ...

'' (2004) * ''Chasers'' (2007) * ''Midnight Angels'' (2010) * ''The Wolf'' (2014)

Other

* Introduction to Modern Library Classics unabridged version of '' The Count of Monte Cristo'', a novel which plays an important role in Carcaterra's autobiographical novel ''Sleepers'' * He has written and produced a number of episodes of '' Law & Order''. * He used his knowledge of New York City to contribute to the 2008 video game '' Alone in the Dark''. * He has written for other publications, including ''

National Geographic Traveler ''National Geographic Traveler'' is a magazine published by NG Media in Armenia, Belgium, the Netherlands, China, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Latin America, Israel, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and the UK. The US ...

''.

References

External links

Lorenzo Carcaterra Official Site

A love story
* 1954 births Living people 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American writers of Italian descent Novelists from New York (state) Organized crime novelists People from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan Writers from Manhattan {{US-novelist-1950s-stub