Who is a Jersey Girl?

My Review for Not For Nothing: Glimpses Into a Jersey Girlhood by Kathy Curto

It took 650 words for me to fall for Kathy Curto’s writing in 2018. There was something so familiar about the story she read at the Read650 literary forum held at City Winery in 2018. Although she was reading on the east side of the Hudson, her words were pure Jersey.

It was with that sense of home that I enjoyed reviewing her book “Not For Nothing: Glimpses Into a Jersey Girlhood” for The Common literary magazine at Amherst this month.

Far from nothing, I found Curto’s sometimes funny and often bittersweet stories explored themes of work, labor, and money that got me thinking about what it really means to be a Jersey girl and live the American Dream. I hope you’ll give it a read.