Eleven Stories High: Growing Up in Stuyvesant Town, 1948-1968

Rating:
Summary: Another Stuyvesant Kid
Review: I was excited to read this as I too grew up in Stuyvesant Town. It was disappointing. The author presented her experiences as indicative of all, and actually made some factual errors. For example she stated "the majority of residents were Jewish". It not only is untrue, but on the face of it would seem highly unlikely. Why would this development be so out of kilter with the population at large? She also indicated that most of the residents had cleaning women. Not to my knowledge, though I bet my mother and the mothers of my friends (and those of my 6 siblings) wished that were true. I may be nit-picking, but since I found the writing less than engrossing, I found the inaccuracies hard to excuse. It may have taken me back, but I kept wanting to ask the author what in heavens name she was talking about. It was unfortunate that the author didn't present this as her reminiscences rather than "the" story of growing up in Stuvesant Town. I suppose any of the many Stuy Town kids (or former residents) would enjoy a quick read of this, but it probably wouldn't be of much interest to anyone else.

Rating:
Summary: Good Book
Review: This book is wonderfully written. It tells a great story in amusing and moving detail of normal family life- the family life most of us had. The description of Stuyvesant Town is mostly accurate. I grew up there in the '70s and '80s and my family and many friends are still there. There are some details that are just wrong (or at least are wrong about the Stuyvesant Town of the '70s and '80s)and keep me from rating this a 5--the author's one sentence slam against Republicans notwithstanding. The residents of Stuyvesant Town mostly were Catholic , not Jewish as claimed by the author. ... I knew none who did. Overall, a good book about the relationship among a child and her parents. Stuyvesant Town residents, past and present, will appreciate discussions such as the longing for a dog in a place where cats weren't even allowed in apartments. Males who grew up in Stuyvesant Town will certainly wish they could read about Little League and playing sports in playgrounds 9 and 11, which is not discussed in this book. A good book.

Rating:
Summary: ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL
Review: What an absolutely delightful book! THIS is what the childhoods were really like for most of us who grew up in the 40s and 50s. I grew up in suburban California but I still identified with the author in almost every emotion, every situation she describes, even though I had always thought those poor kids who grew up in the high rise apartments in New York were really missing out. Not true! I read a lot of memoirs, and I have to say I am so tired of DYSfunctional parents, DYSfunctional situations, etc. This book is like a breath of fresh air. I don't mean to imply that all was peachy keen, but the upsetting situations the author faced were not built into huge life happenings that she was going to take a lifetime to deal with. She had a good childhood. She made a good childhood for herself. She should be very proud of this book and I hope it gets more publicity so it won't be lost in the deluge of memoirs.