In the author's 1960s working class neighborhood on New York's Upper East Side, Devil Dogs were a nickel, hydrants were often open, and the street game called Ringalario let boys put their arms around girls for the first time. Nuns slugged you for humming baseball beer jingles in class. Junkies scrambled up fire escapes with stolen TVs. And, like other fathers, Tommy's took him to saloons all day, and no one thought it strange.
In this funny and bittersweet portrait of his first 18 years, Tommy relives his adventures and misadventures-the day Yogi Berra stepped on his toe, the mystery...