I suppose I was already set up for failure, as historical memoirs aren't really my cup of tea. However, I'd be very keen to read a firsthand account of growing up in NYC by someone that isn't white and privileged--in this case, the privilege comes not necessarily from money/wealth but from the artistic/bohemian world the author was born into. And it's a VERY white work, without a reflection on the racial issues that whiteness brings (at least from the chapter given here, which includes a joke about historical performances in blackface in the first paragraph...).