Famous Nathan

February 29, 2016
The story of the Nathan hot dog establishment is a nostalgic, truly American journey from impoverished immigrant to the eponymous owner of one of the country’s most iconic restaurants, Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs—here told by Nathan Handwerker’s grandson, documentary filmmaker Handwerker. Nathan was born nearly penniless in prewar Poland and emigrated to the U.S. in 1912, at the age of 19. After years of hard work and saving, Nathan opened a hot dog stand which, through his formula of “speed of service, quality of food, and low price,” rose within decades to do the “heaviest retail business in the entire world.” Handwerker relates every knowable detail about Nathan’s Famous: employee tensions, how the potatoes were sourced, even who painted the signs. He also nestles his grandfather’s story in the greater context of family struggles, Coney Island, the history of hot dogs, and the evolving American landscape. The writing is fluid and mostly unsentimental as Handwerker breaks down long-standing myths about the restaurant. He leaves the reader feeling that, even though Nathan is gone and his business has been corporatized, his commitment and character still live on in the heart of the American dream. Agent: Paul Bresnick, Paul Bresnick Literary.

May 15, 2016
Everyone's a wiener in this frank account by a scion of hot dog nobility.There was no such thing as "fast food," documentarian Handwerker asserts, before his grandfather Nathan came on the scene, having emigrated from Galicia and made his way somehow to Coney Island. There, in 1916, after proving himself a hard worker and excellent businessman in the service of other immigrants, he founded a fast-food restaurant that would specialize in hot dogs--more specifically, Nathan's Famous dogs, the namesake of his eatery. In time, writes the author, Nathan's Famous would be the province of stars like Jacqueline Kennedy and Frank Sinatra, hailed by proto-foodies and the hipster crowd of the day. However, he insists, "the place was never about celebrities. It was democratic through and through." Nathan paid well, gave generous bonuses, and otherwise took care of his workers, and employees rewarded him with loyal, decadeslong service. That was all very old-fashioned, of course, and things began to turn south when the old ways began to be replaced with the recommendations of advisers, consultants, and bankers. The beginning of the end comes toward the end of Handwerker's lively book, when Nathan organizes a stock sale that makes the family millions but introduces jealousies, conspiracies, and other headaches. The end of the end--and the lamented end of the Nathan's Famous dog as the world once knew it--came with the corporatization of the humble wiener, bringing even more money into play but taking most of the simple pleasure out of a visit to the beach. "The Nathan's Famous is nowadays more of a licensing business," writes Handwerker, bringing the snack to grocery stores far and wide, if without any of Nathan Handwerker's dogged attention to every detail. A well-made, evenhanded, sometimes cautionary story of business, told with the affection and exasperation of an insider.

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April 15, 2016

In 1916, Nathan Handwerker, a Jewish immigrant from eastern Europe, opened a store in Brooklyn's Coney Island, hawking frankfurters for a dime with only five feet of counter space within which to work. The author, Nathan's grandson Lloyd, who also directed and produced a documentary about Nathan and his famous hot dogs, gives personal insight into what turns out to be a quintessential American tale. Fleeing poverty and the looming specter of World War I, Nathan arrived in New York speaking only Yiddish; he learned English while working in luncheonettes. He saved his pennies in the hopes of finding more than temporary positions and arrived at Coney Island on the cusp of what would be the resort town's heyday. Emphasizing quality and fast, efficient service, his hot dog shop was a perfect match for the theme-park atmosphere. Hard work launched Nathan's brand and enabled him to provide security for his sons, who would eventually succumb to the temptations of greed and corporatization, looking to emulate the franchise success of McDonald's. VERDICT While the story itself is compelling, the writing lacks polish. Still, readers who enjoy accounts of food history, family sagas, and a good hot dog will be interested.--Barrie Olmstead, Sacramento P.L.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2016
Nathan Handwerker got into the restaurant business because he knew he would never be hungry. The hot-dog stand he opened a century ago on Coney Island would become such a success that before long it was known as Nathan's Famous. Nathan's grandson Lloyd, a filmmaker who completed a documentary on his remarkable grandfather, relates here how Nathan built his business on quality food and speedy service at low prices before fast food had even entered the lexicon. Arriving in America at the brink of WWI after fleeing an impoverished existence in what is now Poland, the no-nonsense, illiterate Nathan developed rigorous homegrown practices for managing his burgeoning business. The author paints a larger picture of the rise and fall of the Coney Island community, where his grandfather worked so hard, as well as a bustling America poised for great change. He also works hard to separate Nathan's story from public-relations-generated mythology. It's an American Dream tale with a captivating central character, served with the same delicious snap as an authentic Nathan's hot dog.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)