Analysis Of Crooked River Burning By Mark Winegardner

An essential part of any novel is having characters that provide any sort of basis for a story. Crooked River Burning by Mark Winegardner, for example, represents a strong illustration since the world, or story, rests on David, Anne, and other characters’ shoulders. The novel’s foundation is from the city of Cleveland, particularly in the 60s, and is the key background for the comprehension of the city’s lively past. To summarize, Cleveland was a hangout for the Irish and Italian Mafia groups, which were enemies at the time. As the city of Cleveland changes within this time, the effects, not just on the characters, are blatant and cause the city to change in ways that are unpredictable.
Cleveland’s neighborhoods have two areas that are polar …show more content…
The first bits of information given about David is a connection between him and what he recalls as the ‘game-changer’ for him. To sum it up, the ‘game-changer’ was a baseball game that had taken place on July 14, 1948 between the Cleveland Indians and the Brooklyn Dodgers, final score being 4 to 3. A game like this, however, stands out as Satchel Paige, the first black male to play in the American League, played for the Indians as a pitcher. Black people were spread all throughout the stadium, which David didn’t have a problem with, nonetheless. The Cleveland Indians became an integrated team after the event’s occurrence. Prior to the game, David meets his father, Michael ‘Mikey Z.’ Zielinski. Relations to his father are weak, due to Mikey’s job and connections to the gangster world. David only sees his father in few and random points throughout his life. In time, David meets a lady by the name of Irene Hrudka and eventually ends up together with three kids. Saying that he loves her and having feelings for another woman are two things that don’t mix, in this case with David, Irene, and Anne. At the age of 18, David goes into the military for a period of time before returning home. In the future, Mr. O’Connor finds out that Mikey Z. is David’s father. A mental note is taken that David is related to Mikey, causing Mr. O’Connor to view David in a different light. Soon after, David takes after his father and begins work within the gangster world. Years into the future, David and Anne meet again in David's office. This event lets Anne and David catch up on things that they missed about the other during the time gap, ultimately leading to David and Anne getting