Queenan's deeply funny and affecting memoir about his great escape from a childhood of poverty in a Philadelphia housing project in the early 1960s.

The man on the roof -- Sin City -- The predicament -- Domine, non sum dignus -- Semper fidelis -- The parting of the Reed Sea -- Twilight of the apothecaries -- C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre -- Second fiddle -- Management potential -- Walkabout -- Closing time -- Epilogue.