Before the Sidewalk Ended

This startling portrait of the great writer of children's books, songs and plays Shel Silverstein presents him in a rare humane light. What he was like as a man and a friend. What interested and inspired him. Some of the women in his life. The loving often hilarious relationship between Shel Silverstein & Anthony Valerio depicted in these pages entertains as much as informs. Take a ground-breaking walk beside them through Greenwich Village on a routine work day. Their stops, their conversations. Meet a Shel Silverstein Not (Only) for Kids. A university professor recently wrote: "Readers will be riveted by the portrait of the beloved children's author that emerges in these pages. Not exactly what they may have expected." Lending beauty and life to this charming memoir of an historical time and place are never before seen photos by the great graphic artist and photographer Dave Barry. About Anthony Valerio, Shel Silverstein wrote: "He knows his people. He knows his craft. He gets in, tells his story & gets out. It's what good writing should be." "Shel was one of my people. I was one of his people. This is our story."--A.V. About Anthony Valerio critics are saying:Best Sellers: "...He really knows his history and his subject very well. No less important is the fact thst he is a first-rate writer who can really tell a good story..."Los Angeles Times: "...Valerio writes with energy & a rich style and has an unusually good eye for detail....""Baltimore Sun: "...Anthony Valerio's fiction bears likeness to our best dreams, when the fantastical elements of the subconscious play themselves out in a vivid replica of reality..." Contributor NY Times Book Review & Vogue Magazine--"Anthony Valerio writes a prose like no one else's. It reminds me of nothing so much as Chaplan's walk: the funny dignity, the sly humility, the fastidious pathos." "Gripping, Literate, Naughty, Bawdy"