Just released - Almost Belonging by Stephen Axelrod

A raw collection of stories and plays that dive into the lives of people living on the margins, fighting demons, and searching for where they belong.

Set largely in New York City and shaped by decades of lived experiences, these pieces introduce a cast of unforgettable characters: an aging actor clinging to one last shot, alcoholics struggling in their addiction and families navigating identity, faith, and fractured relationships. With sharp dialogue, dark humor, and moments of tenderness, each story captures the grit and quiet humanity of everyday life.

From city streets and intimate confrontations, the writing moves seamlessly with humor and heartbreak. At its core, this collection explores a simple but powerful universal truth: everyone is searching for connection - even when they don't quite fit in.

Honest, irreverent, and deeply human, this is story telling that doesn't look away.

(available NOW in softcover and Kindle from Amazon.  Click here to get the book on Amazon

An iUniverse editor’s choice selection

New York stage and screen actor, Steven Axelrod, who performed his award winning autobiographical one man show, “Blue Collar Bay” off-Broadway and on tour throughout the country, is now delighted to share his fascinating life story in the form of a moving, new memoir, Surf Avenue.

(available NOW in softcover from Amazon, Barnes & Nobel, and many others!)

Stephen Axelrod’s father, Solly, had his son pegged for his news truck delivery
route from the beginning. But Stephen knew there had to be something else
out there. In Surf Avenue, he shares the story of his life as a tough Jewish boy
growing up in Queens and his quest to escape the blue-collar footsteps his
father left for him to follow.

Humor and resilience take Axelrod through the challenges of growing up in
Cambria Heights, Queens, in the 1950s. His father, a second-generation truck
driver for the Daily News, wishes for nothing more than to see Stephen in
the driver’s seat of his own truck, hauling newspapers for a living. However,
despite steady work with union benefits, this former high school dropout
has an entirely different life in mind. Stephen’s escape from Queens and
his father’s grip takes him on a poignant search for himself—and through
a world without self-imposed boundaries or limits.

From a stint in the US Marine Corps, to a seat on the New York Stock
Exchange, an acting career, and beyond, Stephen’s life takes many poignant
and sometimes shocking swerves—with one constant: the secret insatiable
desire for his father’s approval. Can he find wholeness?