Robert Bronstein

Tales on Tap: a Novel Robert Bronstein

Billy Tonelli, orphaned suddenly at an early age, was a gentle, rudderless dreamer, growing up in his own world. First there was the cowboy period, then cops, then spies. Always there were Kung-Fu movies where good, pure-hearted men saved beautiful damsels in distress by kicking the crap out of anything that moved. He always wanted to live like Gauguin. Not that he could paint anything other than a paint-by-numbers horse and jockey-it's just that he always wanted to live amongst joyous, half-dressed native women who would look up to him as a god-like fire master. He knew it was possible. He had seen the movies. In Tales On Tap Billy suddenly finds himself the bartender/front man for his shady uncles, operating a tavern on Chicago's North Side, and must grow up mentally and socially through the experiences and influence of his regular clientele. A behind-the-scenes legend of Rock & Roll, his young apprentice, the legend's pretty artist girlfriend and her even prettier cousin. A Polish immigrant former coal-miner. A mob kingpin and his hit-man bodyguard who dream of living different lives. A banana republic dictator. An occasional visit from a member of The World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band