Longboat Key author shares her Brooklyn saga

There was a bit of old-time Williamsburg in Sarasota on Aug. 12 as Longboat Key author Carolyn Angiolillo shared her long-awaited book "A Brooklyn Saga: Stories from the Stoop." 

Angiolillo, who wrote the semi-autobiographical novel along with Ronald Joseph Kule, hosted a book signing at La Mucca Ballerina in downtown Sarasota to celebrate the book's release. Angiolillo wrote it based on her own experience growing up in an Italian neighborhood in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. 

"This was a thing I always wanted to do as I saw Williamsburg changing," Angiolillo said. "I always used to tell stories to my friends and they would say, 'You should write a book.'" 

Attendees chatted with Angiolillo and Kule and sampled La Mucca Ballerina's Italian treats throughout the evening. Angiolillo read a chapter from the book that described a typical day on her block and added details and context in as she read. 

"It's a slice of the old Italian Williamsburg I wanted to portray," Angiolillo said.