Trying to Float

New York's Chelsea Hotel may no longer be home to its most famous residents - Andy Warhol, Leonard Cohen, Patti Smith, to name a few - but its eccentric spirit is alive and well.

Meet the family Rips: dandyish father Michael, a writer; bohemian mother Sheila, a renowned artist; and daughter Nicolaia, a shy, keen-eyed girl trying to survive her Manhattan childhood. At the Chelsea, she realises, the hotel's crew of artists and misfits could hold the key - so begins the education of a wallflower. Her memoir of a young life is disarming, heartfelt and wise, a triumphant celebration of the power of embracing difference in all its forms.

Hotelul Chelsea din New York s-ar putea sa nu mai fie gazduirea celor mai renumiti rezidenti ai sai - Andy Warhol, Leonard Cohen, Patti Smith, pentru a numi doar cativa - dar spiritul sau excentric este viu si sanatos. mama boema Sheila, un artist de renume; si fiica Nicolaia, o fata timida, cu ochii dornici, care incearca sa supravietuiasca copilariei din Manhattan.