I absolutely loved this book. I love the stories of all the people who lived on Bank Street in New York City. I loved the caring and flamboyant world and it made me happy that for the author she had all these wonderful people to share her life with. I'm not going to go into detail about all the friendships Florio talks about, because I don't want to ruin the book,  but the ones that touch me most was her friendship Al (her neighbor across from her, John who lived upstair and wrote wonderful poetry or "Auntie Mame," who Roz Russell portrayed in a movie, and there are many more that will make you smile and feel happy inside. One more thing if you loved Greenwich Village when there were a lot of Mom and Pop stores this is the book for you.

I want to Thank NYU Press and NetGalley for an advance copy of this colorful book.

“This building of mine, I came to realize, this 63 Bank Street, holds the stories of America.” 

This book is a treasure trove of memories from Bank Streets’ past.  Reading it, I imagined I was sitting atop the steps of a brownstone, cup of tea in hand, chatting with a neighbor who had lived there for years and who was welcoming me to the neighborhood.  Each chapter is loosely based off one of the authors neighbors that she remembers from a life on Bank Street.  The pages are filled with rich histories of different decades, the changing neighborhood and times, glimpses into her parents life before the author is born, as well as, her own life experiences from childhood through adulthood.  

I SO enjoyed getting to know the people In this book.  As I think back on it, I can actually visualize them and can easily recall some of the tidbits shared about their lives.  

Many thanks to the Donna Florio, NYU Press, and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.  I read and reviewed this voluntarily and opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.  This book is available for purchase in March 9th, 2021!

"And everyone who arrives, whether by birth like me or under a border fence or on a jet plane, makes their own story on their own Bank Street" 

Thank you, Donna, for an amazing insight into Bank Street and its soul. 

It has been a long time since I have read an autobiography, as I mentioned I was drawn to this book because of the cover, the title, and of course the wish to visit NYC once in the future. This is an account of many important people in New York, socialites, actors, actresses, artists... Donna has such a great talent for grabbing your attention, the stories follow one after another and you just can't stop reading. 

Before I started reading I had some expectations, so, at times Donna's style can be descriptive and detailed, I personally liked that, because my imagination has just enough details to go wild and create those images in my head. I loved all the stories about her friends, some of them were more vivid than others, and I would have to say that I was amazed at how much love and care Donna writes about her neighbors. I think it's rare to have such a connection with neighbors nowadays, everyone seems to be running around and about, burdened with their problems, and I always thought of NYC as a place where people felt alienated, but Donna's stories proved me wrong. And I am glad that's the case, this memoir surpassed my expectations, and it was just what I needed at this time.

I am a lover of all things New York. That was what drew me to this book initially as I’m not normally a huge fan of memoirs. Well, I’m glad I gave it a try!

It’s a rich and captivating experience of what living on Bank Street in Greenwich Village was like over the span of many decades. There are stories of celebrities and everyday people that are very interesting and grab at your heartstrings.   I loved the way I felt like I was there on Bank Street. I could see and feel how it must have felt due to the author’s descriptive style of writing. 

I would recommend this to anyone who loves learning about the history of New York or just history in general but in a more personal way. 

Thank you to NetGalley, Donna Florio, and Washington Mews Books for the opportunity to enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Donna Florio for the advanced copy of  “Growing Up Bank Street: A Greenwich Village Memoir” in return for my honest review. This book is available for purchase on March 9, 2021!

Donna shares her journey living at 63 Bank Street and the people she came across. From rock stars and starlets to people suffering from mental illness - Donna has seen it all. Each chapter is filled with the story of a resident and Donna’s memories of them. 

This was an interesting read. It was fun getting to meet a new person in every chapter and feel as though we are experiencing what Donna did growing up on Bank Street. Some chapters were more entertaining than others and I found that the chapters about the average tenant pulled on my heartstrings more than the more famous people noted. For an honest, raw, beautifully told story of early Greenwich Village - go grab this one!

Being a history nut and a fan of memoirs, I was excited to  read Growing Up Bank Street. Donna Florio's penchant for storytelling and her vivid and vibrant descriptions of a bygone era made this New York community come alive. It also made me want to go visit Bank Street myself! My only critique of this book was that there were so many  vignettes & characters in this memoir - that it left me feeling a little scattered and overwhelmed as I tried to keep up. All in all, I think this book is charming, and a rich micro-history. If you want to learn about growing up in a 20th century New York community, meet an eclectic cast of characters, and be swept up with a startling sense of nostalgia,  then this book is for you.

”This building of mine, I came to realise, this 63 Bank Street, holds the stories of America. We are linked across the decades, and far more than we know.”

This is a remarkable memoir of the friends, neighbours and visitors of Bank Street, Greenwich Village. Over the decades this Street in ‘The Village’ has housed actors, actresses, movie producers, rock and roll stars (John Lennon and Sid Vicious!), investment bankers, teachers, mothers, fathers and children. So much history and this memoir is told with detail and emotion around those individuals. It’s incredible that this street was so welcoming to all, lifelong friendships were made and never forgotten. 

It’s interesting thinking about neighbourhoods and how friendships are established. Do you have friendships with your neighbours? Donna Florio narrated this so well, with each chapter about a new neighbour in the street. I’m super lucky to have been to New York City a few times so I could really picture her writing. I knew the buildings she was talking about and can imagine what it would have been like back in the early 1900’s. NYC is really an incredible city with so many stories so if you are in the mood for a non-fiction memoir, this would be a great pick! I mean who doesn’t love reading about New York!

I received an advance digital copy of this book through NetGalley.

 Donna Florio grew up and still resides in the same apartment building on Bank Street in New York City. In this memoir, she does a beautiful job of sharing the heartache, joy, generosity, mystery, and love of her fellow friends and neighbors. I am blown away by the extensive research and interviewing required to memorialize so many people in such a deep and meaningful way. I’ve never read a book that made me feel so connected to strangers. She has lived amongst celebrities, music stars, artists, Broadway performers, and just regular people doing quiet but extraordinary things. I was especially touched by the stories of Jack Heineman Jr., Auntie Mame, Billy Joyce and Marty Braverman. If you have ever visited New York, you understand the special charm and energy that the city and its people provide. This book gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the magic.

This is a very interesting, enjoyable account of the author’s life growing up in New York’s Greenwich Village. The events and the characters she describes are colorful, unusual, and she paints a picture of how these people, from vastly different backgrounds, lived together as a family of sorts. I recommend this book to those who are familiar with life in NY, as well as those who might want to learn about it. My review on Goodreads is linked below.

4.5 stars.  This book is an absolute gem.  I'm not sure what made me request a digital ARC, but something about the description of a life lived on one New York City street really appealed to me.  This is a charming collection of descriptions of Bank Street in Greenwich Village, neighbors, relationships, characters, and everyday life.  I loved reading this and it is so hopeful about the state of neighborhoods, even in gentrified Greenwich Village.  This is a beautifully written book and I hope it gets the attention it deserves.  I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I apologize for giving this review so quickly. This is a first for me. I read and reread many pages and can not finish the book. It has too many adjectives for every room, thought, describing individuals etc. It does not capture my interest or make sense.

Donna Florio has written her memoir but has also written a history of New York. Not all of New York, but of a certain neighborhood, at a certain time. It's everything you want in a story - artists and families/adventure and love/sadness and growth. 

Thank to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this lovely book.

There is definitely an audience for this book, but it is not me. I love to read about NYC and there were some chapters that were very interesting, but there were many that were not. I could not finish this book, I just stopped caring. But the author has lead an interesting life.

I have wanted to visit New York for quite some time, so when I had the opportunity to read  this, I was very excited by the prospect. The book was even better than I expected. 

The author, Donna Florio, seems to have amazing recall that is apparent with all the fascinating details she shares of her life on Bank Street and the interesting  people she met throughout her life. She includes a combination of famous people and ordinary folks. With chapters dedicated to some of the personalities  that stand out the most, we learn about what their lives were like—how they interacted with others—and even those little eccentricities that make us all human.

Florio also shares details of her own upbringing in a family that was more than  a bit dysfunctional, with a mother who at times didn’t hold back her thoughts that she would would have been better off without a child. Growing up in an  age when parents didn’t hover over  their children, she was free to explore and learned street smarts at an early age. 

I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good memoir.

I couldn't get past the first few chapters of this book.  It felt like a constant stream of name-dropping that made me want to jump ahead to when an actual story was starting.  Maybe I will try again later but it just didn't hold my interest.

As someone who has never even been to New York, I am always very interested in learning about the city and love stories from the residents there.  Memoirs are not always my thing, but I really enjoyed this one.  The people profiled were intriguing and I wish I could move into Bank Street too. The story was told a little slower than I would prefer and not being from New York, there were some portions that were hard to follow. I could see this definitely being made into a Netflix show or series going more in-depth with all of the characters discussed!

Disclaimer: I received the ARC from the publisher through Net Galley. All opinions are my own.

An atmospheric book that gives the reader a look into life on NYC's Bank Street.  I loved the emphasis on the fact that place makes the person, and how much of Donna's identity was shaped by this street.  It was an engaging read-- starting off giving background info on Donna and her upbringing, then moving on to describe the individual characters she met that also lived on Bank Street.  All together, the snapshots worked to bring Bank Street to life and created an image of home that was moving and powerful.

This was a very interesting look at Greenwich Village across the years of a young girls life.  It has short stories of people who have lived there that she got to know.  I loved the feel of this book.  Sometimes a book will take you somewhere that you wouldn't have a chance to experience.  This book does that.  Loved it.

I found this memoir to be wonderfully written! I’ve been eager to read and learn more about NYC neighborhood and culture. So I was stoked to come across this one! I would recommend.

Date reviewed/posted: February 10, 2021
Publication date: March 9, 2021

When life for the entire galaxy and planet has turned on its end, you are continuing to #maskup and #lockdown to be in #COVID19 #socialisolation as the #secondwave is upon us, AND it is a loverly minus 26 degrees, snowy and icy where I am currently stuck living, so superspeed readers like me can read 300+ pages/hour, so yes, I have read the book … and many more today.

I requested and received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley, the publisher and the author in exchange for an honest review.  

From the publisher, as I do not repeat the contents or story of books in reviews, I let them do it as they do it better than I do 😸.

A vivid memoir of life in one of New York City’s most dynamic neighbourhoods

Growing Up Bank Street is an evocative, tender account of life in Greenwich Village, on a unique street that offered warmth, support, and inspiration to an adventurous and openhearted young girl. Bank Street, a short strip of elegant brownstones and humble tenements in Greenwich Village, can trace its lineage back to the yellow fever epidemics of colonial New York. In the middle of the last century, it became home to a cast of extraordinary characters whose stories intertwine in this spirited narrative.

Growing up, Donna Florio had flamboyant, opera performer parents and even more free-spirited neighbours. As a child, she lived among beatniks, artists, rock musicians, social visionaries, movie stars, and gritty blue-collar workers, who imparted to her their irrepressibly eccentric life rules. The real-life Auntie Mame taught her that she is a divine flame from the universe. 

John Lennon, who lived down the street, was gracious when she dumped water on his head. Sex Pistols star Sid Vicious lived in the apartment next door, and his heroin overdose death came as a wake-up call during her wild twenties. An elderly Broadway dancer led by brave example as Donna helped him comfort dying Villagers in the terrifying early days of AIDS, and a reclusive writer gave her a path back from the brink when, as a witness to the attacks of 9/11, her world collapsed. These vibrant vignettes weave together a colourful coming of age tale against the backdrop of a historic, iconoclastic street whose residents have been at the heart of the American story.

As Greenwich Village gentrifies and the hallmarks of its colourful past disappear, Growing Up Bank Street gives the reader a captivating glimpse of the thriving culture that once filled its storied streets.

This book is so .... full of stories....that I begin to wonder if they are true. If it is true it is amazing, especially the John Lennon story and I can only imagine that the fear that happened during 9/11 was 10000x more awful than what we saw or read about.  It was a great book but I kept saying COME ON as it seemed very ... fantastical ... even though the author made the NYTimes speaking about the craziness at this particular Bank Street brownstone.

Not a bad read, it just seemed too outlandish for my brain to conceive as being 100% the truth.

As always, I try to find a reason to not rate with stars as I simply adore emojis (outside of their incessant use by "🙏-ed Social Influencer Millennials/#BachelorNation survivors/Tik-Tok and YouTube  Millionaires/snowflakes / literally-like-overusers etc. " on Instagram and Twitter... Get a real job, people!) so let's give it  🗽🗽