Will dangers, dalliances, and delights snare a young innocent on a rocking and roiling, art-felt journey of self discovery?
Difficult 1970s high school days lead to New York City adventure with time spent growing up at fabled Manhattan hot spots CBGB and Max’s as a ladylike young beauty learns the ways of the world and keeps her own quiet counsel in this coming-of-age memoir.
She flirts with the rock’n’roll world of Johnny Thunders, the Ramones, Patti Smith, and an assortment of downtown types including Andy Warhol, William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, and Vincent Gallo. After traveling with the Ramones, she tires of the club scene and her tastes turn uptown.
As a makeup artist at a well-known shop on 55th Street, she meets many older beauties and stars of stage and screen, most notably Cher, but including everyone from Lena Horne to Ronnie Spector. The highlight of her adventures is an encounter with Jackie Onassis in the 1980s.
The author becomes enamored of Café Carlyle chanteuses, but ultimately her sights soar to the truly sublime.
Throughout the manuscript are the recollections of an introspective young life. It’s not all frippery. The writing provides a gentle cautionary tale in a fast and mostly amusing read.