Aug 2, 2016

Broadway, Schrafft's and Seeded Rye by Lyla Blake Ward : First Paragraph

A memoir about "growing up slightly Jewish on the Upper West Side" of NYC
Broadway, Schrafft's and Seeded Rye, a memoir by Lyla Blake Ward, published February 1, 2016

First paragraph, first chapter:
Born Yesterday...or the day before
I think the neighborhood we now know as the Upper West Side came into being at around the same time I did -- 1928. High-rise apartment buildings were beginning to crop up along Riverside Drive by then, before the great renovation of the park was even a twinkle in Robert Moses's eye. 
My mother gave birth to me at home, 375 Riverside Drive, so she would not have to be separated from her two older children: my brother George (ten) and my sister June (five). She was a very protective mother. Very. This meant I didn't start school until first grade because my mother thought too many germs lurked in kindergarten classrooms. And when I did go to school at six years old - the city of New York had the final say here - I trotted off to P.S. 54, one block on Amsterdam Avenue, bundled up to the chin like Nanook of the North, from September to June. I didn't know what cold ari felt like until I was in high school. 
 Book description: Through essays and poems, histories and vintage photos, Lyla Blake Ward makes this unique neighborhood-- 72nd street to 110th-- east and west of Broadway, come alive. (publisher)

Meme: Every Tuesday First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros are hosted by Bibliophile By the Sea. Share the first paragraph sometimes two, of a book you are reading or plan to read soon

Based on the first paragraphs of the book, would you keep reading? 

9 comments:

  1. Love that neighborhood... the book sounds great!

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  2. Oh WOW, this one sounds awesome. I need to see if I can a get a copy from my library.

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  3. I like the tone set by the first paragraph. I'd like to keep going.

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  4. Sounds like a well-written memoir. I like the humor: "I didn't know what cold air felt like until I was in high school." His mother sounds like quite a character!
    My Tuesday post features BLUEBONNET SPRING

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  5. This sounds like an interesting read. I would continue reading.

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  6. I don't often read memoirs, admittedly, but this sounds like it will be good. I like the author's writing voice.

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  7. I love a good memoir and think this sounds great.

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  8. Nostalgia--keep reading. Enjoy.

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  9. I love memoirs and this sounds upbeat.

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