In this unflinching look at life on the streets, Rogers transports readers to the back corners of New York City in the 1980s, recounting his childhood spent with his best friend, Marta, spray painting street art and running from the cops. “For some, life is short-lived, either you make it, or you don’t, for others, it is a lifetime of pain. Even if you escape it, the trauma is always there” Rogers writes, as he descends, little by little, into homelessness, starting at a young age while desperately trying to escape his abusive home life. The stories are raw, brutal, and, as readers may suspect, full of heartbreaking experiences that are painful to read.

Throughout the book, Rogers introduces several colorful characters, including the painter he calls John, who sees potential in Rogers and takes him under his wing, advising him that “art is not about what you like. It is about what others will like.” Like many of Rogers’s relationships, his connection to John ends in trauma, a theme that is layered throughout this wrenching debut memoir. Marta, too, is a vivid character, often presented as a silent partner to Rogers’s suffering but always staunchly in attendance and eager to navigate the ins and outs of street living, as when she and Roger devise a new way of communicating through a police callbox or her dedication to improving their art.

Rogers’s story unfolds through out-of-order snippets, touching on memorable moments while dashing the flicker of hope that he sometimes exudes for a better life. He hints at military service and closes with his endeavors to help veterans, sadly observing that “most of the relationships in my life were about people getting what they wanted, and I had to come to terms with that.” This is a harrowing, powerful account of a young man’s fight to find a way forward.

Takeaway: Wrenching account of life on the streets in 1980s New York City.

Comparable Titles: Janice Erlbaum’s Girlbomb, Violet Blue’s A Fish Has No Word for Water.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-