The lead-off essay in this collection revisits the frame of mind he was in when he conceived Low Life in the Lower East Side of the early 1980s. The best essays that follow maintain that strong personal connection, such as an eyewitness account of a riot in Tompkins Square Park or the time he lived in the same apartment building as Allen Ginsberg. The book and music reviews that make up the bulk of the remaining material are usually insightful and occasionally contain striking imagery.  It's worth working through... to soak up Sante's various observations on the long legacy of outsider culture, from Rimbaud through Buddy Bolden to Bob Dylan.  -Publishers Weekly