The Big Apple Turns Brown When You Slice It: Selected Poems and Short Stories of My Nuyorican Culture

This book taught me to laugh and to recognize that my childhood did include good, wholesome, healthy episodes. I say this because, as a child, I suffered with depression and as a preteen turned to alcohol and drugs to forget the recurring nightmares and shame and drown or dull the horrific emotional and physical torment I lived with for many years. It has also taught me to live and appreciate my culture, which I rejected during my teen years.