Small Smile's Sunday Buddy and other South Brooklyn Tales

"Small Smile's Sunday Buddy and other South Brooklyn Tales" is a thoughtful collection of vignettes and short stories that dives into the complexities of place. As Aiden, the main character, looks back on his life growing up in the Windsor Terrace neighborhood of South Brooklyn, he comes to understand that where you spent your formative years has a profound influence on who you become. Humans, after all, are a product of where they spend their time. Place is an inescapable part of our identity


"Aiden did not feel like he was dying, but he wasn't quite sure. So, he made a vow at this crucial juncture to recall and recount all his memories of growing up in a neighborhood in South Brooklyn. He vowed that he would write one story, one sentence, or even just one word that would encompass his past and all that had occurred over the years as he did not know for certain what his future might hold."



In order to cope with the uncertainty of what lies ahead, Aiden finds himself looking back at what was. As Aiden boldly commits to writing this story, he must confront everything – good and bad – that contributed to his growth.



Aiden's tales depict the life and times, the people, places, and loves, that everyone has experienced regardless of where they grew up. But would he have the time, and would the telling of these tales help him or others when they came to this same critical crossroads?

J.A. McNally served as a medic in the United States Air Force Medical Service. He went on to have a forty-five-year career in the health care field. He has traveled extensively in the United States and Europe, but Brooklyn will always be his home. This is his first published work of fiction.