Not so much an autobiography as a scrapbook recollection of memories, influences, and events, this book strikes a level of quality rarely reached. Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, an essayist and commentator of the highest order, digs through her remarkable life and discovers a trove of gems: stories of her childhood in Bensonhurst, her love of Italy, her teenage experience as a Jehovah"s Witness, her first love and her passion for food. As interesting as the portraits are, it is the skill and pure exuberance of her writing that make this work such a joy.