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    Cornelius Sky
    Cornelius Sky
    Cornelius Sky
    Audiobook6 hours

    Cornelius Sky

    Written by Timothy Brandoff

    Narrated by B.J.Harrison

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Cornelius Sky is a doorman in a posh Fifth Avenue apartment building that houses New York City’s elite, including a former First Lady whose husband was assassinated while in office. It is 1974 and New York City is heading toward a financial crisis. At work, Connie prides himself on his ability to buff a marble floor better than anyone, a talent that so far has kept him from being fired for his drinking. He pushes the boundaries of his duties, partying and playing board games with the former First Lady’s lonely thirteen-year-old son in the service stairwell—the only place where the boy is not spied upon mercilessly by the tabloid press and his Secret Service detail. Connie believes he is the only one who can offer true solace and companionship to this fatherless boy, but his constant neglect of his own sons and their mother reaches a boiling point. His wife changes the locks on his own door, and he finds himself wandering the mean streets of the city in his uniform, where unlikely angels offer him a path toward redemption. Cornelius Sky is an elegant picaresque that beautifully captures an opulent city on the edge of ruin and recovery.

    Editor's Note

    Light through the haze…

    Author Timothy Brandoff (who’s also a New York City bus driver) takes us to an upscale Manhattan apartment building in 1974 where Cornelius “Connie” Sky works as a doorman. A painful past has become a painful present, which is why Connie prefers to have his senses regularly dulled via a serious drinking problem. There are moments of light peeking through the haze though, like when he develops a fatherly relationship with one of the building’s tenants, the 13-year-old son of an assassinated president.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEverand Productions
    Release dateDec 1, 2020
    ISBN9781094410760
    Author

    Timothy Brandoff

    Timothy Brandoff received a BA from Goddard College and an MFA from New York University. His fellowships include the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriters Lab, the Chesterfield Writer’s Film Project, the Vermont Studio Center, and Yaddo. Cornelius Sky was a runner-up for the James Jones First Novel Fellowship. Brandoff operates a bus for the New York City Transit Authority.

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    Reviews for Cornelius Sky

    3.5/5

    103 ratings17 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Definitely wasn't expecting that. Extremely raw but beautifully woven story. I was hooked and will keep that one in mind for a while.
    • 2/5
      I found the book boring. There didn’t seem to be a plot, it just rambled.
    • 5/5
      Cornelius Skyby Timothy Brandoffdue 8-6-2019Akashic Books4.5 / 5.0Cornelius "Connie" Sky is making a living as a doorman at a ritzy Fifth Avenue New York, amid the 1970s political power. His alcoholism has estranged him from his wife and 2 sons. They want nothing to do with him. His homelessness and drinking have cost him everything, even his employment is tittering....Wandering the streets in his doorman uniform, meeting unexpected kindness and understanding help Connie find the resilience and self respect to work toward becoming the man he wishes to be. His sense of humor is his savior.Cornelius Sky reminds me of the humbleness of humanity, the resilience of self respect and the comedy/tragedy of lifeThanks to Akashic and LibraryThing for sending ARC for review.
    • 2/5
      I really wanted to like and enjoy this book more than I did. First of all, the writing was a tad confusing. Some sentences didn't make much sense to me maybe due to a lack of punctuation. I'm not sure. I also found the protagonist, Connie, entirely unrelatable. I had a hard time feeling sorry for him and his situation because he was such an ass of a person. He made selfish choices throughout his life and is now dealing with the consequences of those choices. Thanks to LibraryThing for the opportunity to read and review this book.
    • 4/5
      Author and Novel's BackstoryOne hot summer's day in 1990, Timothy Brandon sought refuge in the public library. Wandering in the stacks, he discovered the numerous volumes of the New York Times Index."I discovered two abstracts concerning family members. The first, from 1937, about my grandfather, contained the startling keyword of suicide. The second, from 1974, about my uncle, offered this highly curious instruction: 'See JFK, Jr.'" After pulling the microfilm and reading the articles, he remembers thinking, "If I could somehow capture the bleak irony and pathos of these pieces."Thirty years later, having obtained an MFA from NYU, he has crafted his debut novel weaving the reference to JFK, Jr. and suicide into the story. The novel's setting is familiar to him as well; home life in the low-income public housing projects of Chelsea in New York City. A generational workplace as doormen at a posh Fifth Avenue apartment building. The sad history of a few ancestors, parking themselves in pubs, attempting to drown life's sorrows and inequities.From all these loose threads, he crafted, the one, the only, Cornelius Sky.Our narrator begins the story in 1974 with Cornelius, henceforth known as Connie, as he stumbles home in the dead of night in his usual manner; three sheets to the wind. With difficulty he tries to insert his key in the door only to discover the locks changed and his marriage over. Connie leaves with no destination or plan in mind. He wanders the streets, his doorman cap askew, his gait staggering, too stewed to know what to do next.He is currently employed at a ritzy Fifth Avenue apartment building. This job, now floundering, like the many others over the years. His charm gets him in the door. His custodial duties are masterful. He starts each job deliberately with high standards. It is critical that he that makes him indispensable right away because it won't be long before he starts his downward spiral - late to work, drunk on the job, slovenly dressed, and at times, nasty and churlish to the residents.The firing, when it comes this time, is particularly difficult. He has a developed a friendship with the son of a wealthy resident, a Presidential widow. A thirteen-year-old named John. This friendship seen perhaps as a chance to redeem himself for estranging his own children or just two lost souls finding solace together over a cribbage board in the back hallway.Connie's tragic story began in his childhood in the low-income Chelsea projects. His father gave up early by committing suicide. His choice to turn on the gas oven and stick his head inside also killed Connie's baby brother as he slept. His mother moved on to an abusive lover that made Connie's life hell. The one place he hoped to find peace, church, was marred by a predatory clergyman. Without a responsible adult in his life, he soon learned self-prescribed doses of alcohol keep everything tolerable.“I can't picture life without it. He tried to feel out in his mind for an image of himself as a person who did not drink, and nothing came. The construct of a character named Connie Sky who lived a sober life eluded him, terrified him down to the ground. . .”But not all is doom and gloom. The story begins to feel, after a while, like the narrator is Della Reese and we are watching an episode of Touched by an Angel. We see Connie at his worst, sense his potential, and can't help but beg him to find help. To find the peace that so deep down he wants.When it seems that he has lost everything including his soul, we sense that "angels" have arrived to steer him back to life and to a future he thought never possible.I want to thank the publisher, LibraryThing and Edelweiss for advanced reading copies of the book for my review and honest opinion.Recommended reading.
    • 3/5
      I was not impressed by this story about a doorman Cornelius who let his life go down a downward spiral because of his drinking. The bond between him and JFK, Jr was interesting and I could see it happen (doorman bonding with a resident). I did not feel for Connie's character and felt more like he did it to himself....harsh? A little bit. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this but I wouldn't discourage others from reading it either.
    • 4/5
      It took me a few chapters to get into this book because it's outside my usual go-to taste, but ultimately I really enjoyed this sympathetic but not treacly portrayal of an alcoholic doorman in the 70s. Con is sort of an anti-hero who you will find yourself simultaneously wincing at and rooting for.
    • 3/5
      Cornelius Sky by Timothy Brandoff is an interesting study of a man who had a poor beginning and goes through life making mistakes and drinking too much. He earns his living working at an upscale brownstone where, incidentally, Jacqueline Kennedy lives. Daughter Caroline is away at school by then, so her son, John, spends a lot of time by himself. He is befriended by Cornelius Sky, who recognizes the loneliness in the boy.. Cornelius' marriage has foundered and his relationship with his children is broken. Due to his drinking, he makes mistake after mistake and loses his job. He agrees to go to AA meetings with his newfound friends and his life improves with sobriety, including his relationship with his children.
    • 5/5
      One of those books that's as beautiful as it is sad. A self-loather struggling with wanting more/better and not willing to acknowledge the truth. An East Coast Henry Chinaski...grittier, but with more heart.
    • 4/5
      A good book, but so sad! I felt like Connie, the main character meant well, but got frustrated with him and his drinking. This book shows the effects that suicide can have on families for years to follow. Connie’s father committed suicide when he was a child, Connie is an alcoholic, and his kids suffer.
    • 3/5
      This novel took me a long time to get through and I ultimately had to commit to reading 25 pages a day or I would have put it down. It's not a bad novel but the writing style and in particular the dialogue forced me to re-read passages to understand who was talking. The conversations are suppose to be gritty and real because the characters are gritty and real. These conversations are best read aloud. They are casual and it's a shortened way of talking often seen on screen where visual cues and tone of a character's voice. help the viewer comprehend the situation. Other than that it was a complete novel: beginning, middle, end. It reminded me a lot of "Car Trouble" by Robert Rorke in its father son in New York relationship aspects"
    • 5/5
      What an interesting story. I had no idea what would happen to Cornelius and all of his demons but I liked him and rooted for him all the way. The reader was EXCELLENT.....his voice was perfect for the story. I loved the ending and didn’t at all expect it.Bravo. Excellent writer

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Never been a doorman, lived in NY, nor suffered from alcoholism, but the author presented a highly believable character who has experienced all three.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 2/5
      Random dude goes to AA and gets sober nothing special
    • 4/5
      What? That’s suddenly the end? Thought I must’ve fallen asleep and missed something.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Fantastic debut. 10 out of 10.
      Can’t wait for his next effort.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5

      Loved this book! This takes you through so many emotions while reading it. If you have some great stories like this one, you can publish it on Novel Star, just submit your story to hardy@novelstar.top or joye@novelstar.to

      1 person found this helpful