It took me forever to get through this book. It’s odd, because I loved Motherless Brooklyn, but I just couldn’t get under the skin of this one. It’s pretty hardcore about music and being a boy and being and not being black, and aside from one magical period in the middle, something just didn’t click for me. That said, I can see how this could be important in a modern urban canon, so don’t write it off on my say-so.