The Days of the Bitter End

by Jack Engelhard

Did two Kennedys die on that tragic day in Dallas? This is the drama during the days of Camelot when American comedy turned into Amerca s tragedy... Americans lost their innocence on that tragic day in Dallas November 22, 1963. The Days of the Bitter End takes readers back to the streets of the political and cultural focal point of the New York City's Greenwich Village -- at the moment of one of contemporary history's life-changing events -- John F. Kennedy's assassination. But for comedian Cliff Harris, whose career was based solely on his superb talent to imitate the dashing young President Kennedy, life is changed forever. After rising from obscurity in Philadelphia to national prominence on television s entertainment institution, The Ed Sullivan Show, Harris (whose character is based on real-life Kennedy impersonator Vaughn Meader) becomes America s most popular comedic performer, doing JFK so well that even the First Lady has a tough time telling the difference. But when the popular president is suddenly gunned down by Lee Harvey Wallace, the bullets that kill Kennedy also kill Harris career, taking him down along with rest of Camelot. The novel is populated with real people of the "beat scene." Engelhard was there during that thrilling era -- the doorman at the now-famous Bitter End nightclub that played host to many counter-culture legends including Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul & Mary, Lenny Bruce, Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, and Jack Kerouac. His novel is filled with lively fictionalized versions of characters he knew and worked with that capture the passion and drama of the 60s generation. The Days of the Bitter End vividly brings to life the streets of New York City s renowned Greenwich Village. That vibrant political and cultural focal point of the 1960s is stunningly reflected in all its exuberance, sex, pot-smoking, poetry and politics. Engelhard's heartfelt work recaptures the day American innocence turned into an American tragedy and our nation moved from the sweetness of postwar life to the bitter era of Vietnam.

283 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1998

Reviews

[Gisela Hausmann]

The Days of the Bitter End is another masterpiece by Jack Engelhard. As a history buff I appreciate reading about times I have not (really) experienced. Jack delivers. His portrayal of Greenwich Village 1963 lets the aura of time and place come alive. The descriptions are so vivid I could almost hear Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and Peter, Paul, and Mary singing.

But there is much more. By creating his character Cliff Harris, the comedian and John Kennedy impersonator, Jack creates the opportunity to have Cliff tell us what Americans were thinking about the president's political decisions and life; people interact with Cliff, the impersonator, since they cannot speak directly to the president.

The more I read the more I got drawn into the book. I wanted to know what was going to happen even though that was clear from the beginning. Kennedy would get shot and obviously his impersonator would not have a career anymore. Suspense arises as Jack's characters take little steps in attempt to live their lives to the fullest. As readers we cannot help but rooting for them and then - unexpectedly sudden - Kennedy is shot and everything is falling apart. I was a baby when John Kennedy got assassinated but I do remember Robert Kennedy getting shot. I had found my mother in the kitchen, weeping almost out of control. The radio was running. Why was she sobbing like I had never seen before? She explained to me that that man, who she had shown me on the cover of a magazine only a few weeks prior, that man who had been depicted with his wife and ten children, who wanted to be president, had been shot. Being six, living in Europe, I could not grasp why anybody would want to shoot a man who wanted to be president of the United States. Seeing my mother weep, I realized that this was a much bigger tragedy than I could understand. It is exactly this feeling that radiates out of Jack's book's pages. Even though Jack's characters and everybody else can guess that history just took a terrible and unexpected turn, nobody can grasp what is about to unravel on many levels. Jack is a master in letting this feeling of uncertainty come alive. Having peeked over the shoulder of Jack's vivacious character Louise Carmen, "we feel" how "she feels" when we read: "Louise Carmen was not young anymore. Then again, nobody was."

Lastly, Jack has his characters Cliff, Ben, and Lenny ask the big questions and make the big statements.
"Is America still a nation or have we simply become an audience?"
"You're not after the truth?"
"Illusion is America and Elvis and I say thank God for illusion."

With such Jack makes us think and reflect. The Days of the Bitter End delivers much more than a fictitious story set in 1963. I highly recommend this book.

[John Cassell]

A brilliantly written book by the doorman for the Bitter End Cafe. Jack Engelhard was a first hand witness to the zestful days of Dylan, Peter Paul and Mary, Lenny Bruce...Cosby, Streisand...all of them. He saw Beat turned to Hip.

The characters are instantly recognizable. They could have been alter egos for the ones I depict in my faction book Odyssey: 1970. It was a surprisingly inclusive time when caution was thrown to the winds and people lived as never before.

Jack Engelhard brilliantly weaves his tapestry, leaving the reader feeling heis standing there on Bleecker St. I was there in '62 and so can attest to the atmosphere he so brilliantly re-creates. But there is much more. The story winds up covering from 62-68, spans both coasts and of course Vietnam.

I finished it with tears in my eyes....tears for a bygone era...for friends now all grown up....

You just couldn't stay forever in NeverNever Land.