The editor, Cheryl Dunbar Kahlke, has woven five written accounts about Fire Island into a very readable book, generously complemented with photographs and postcards of the 1920s to the 1940s era. The five narratives are universal in emotion and yet simultaneously immensely personal in detail. That private quality triggers the reader's sensation of a personal knowledge of the feelings and experiences of each. In addition, each tale is enhanced by that presenter's honest abandon as they penned their memories in their own vernacular and individual colloquial style.
Overall, the subject matter, Fire Island, universalizes the outpourings. Factual and historic details in timelines, maps, charts, newspaper articles, and other memorabilia add to the book. These keep the stories grounded in historic reality, which is useful for those who desire a deeper background of the times.