Chance of a Lifetime: Nucky Johnson, Skinny D'Amato, and How Atlantic City Became the Naughty Queen of Resorts

In her glory days -- from Prohibition to the Jet Age -- Atlantic City was the nation's center of entertainment. Celebrities and tourists flocked to "America's Playground" while political corruption, illegal gambling, bootlegging, and prostitution were all sanctioned as part of the experience. Chance of a Lifetime explores the heyday of this resort -- when real-life excesses strain even the wildest imaginations and outrageous characters made it all happen. It is where American Cool was born, the first home of the Rat Pack and a haven where a down-and-out Frank Sinatra was always welcome -- and never forgot it. Beginning with the early attractions of the island, then exploring the power base of boss "Nucky" Johnson and later "Skinny" D'Amato and his famed 500 Club -- a venue that encapsulated everything good, bad, and fun about the town -- we are given a nostalgic tour of the "good-bad old days." This intimate and personal account of the city, the club and the famous and infamous people who passed through is told by insider Grace Anselmo D'Amato, whose husband managed the 500 Club for his brother Skinny, and includes a foreword by noted Atlantic City historian Vicki Gold Levi. In a place where more people came for sin than sun, Chance of a Lifetime details the rise and fall, and rise again, of Atlantic City's glorious glitz and guts.Vicki Gold Levi is the author of 'Chance of a Lifetime: Nucky Johnson, Skinny D'Amato, and How Atlantic City Became the Naughty Queen of Resorts', published 2001 under ISBN 9780945582755 and ISBN 0945582757.