Natural yogurt.

This book is a long narrative told in the first person of the life from childhood to 50 of Raf Nadroy. He is an American male of Spanish descent and was born in New York. This is a good tale of a man growing up, who finds love and work as he copes with problems in relationships and business. He is very self deprecating and realizes his mistakes and missed opportunities. He explores many social problems in America and how some people like himself have a strong work ethic but others rely solely on benefits and other hand outs.

Raf meets a good range of characters along the way but his love life leads to many problems.  He has two failed marriages and you develop a strong empathy of Raf as he is a good worker and tries really hard to make things happen and work out good for everyone. The relationship with his second wife is very well described and their problems explained. I understand all too well where he was coming from!

I liked this book but will only vote it 3 stars on Good Reads for one simple reason. Raf I'm No Angel would have been voted good with 4 stars rather than okay with 3 stars if someone had proof-read and corrected the text before publication. I have never read a book with so many mistakes. A spell checker had been used and all the words are valid but not the right words in context. This sloppiness spoiled what could have been a good book as the reader has to correct and guess so much of the time. Raf I'm No Angel was badly edited by Joann Piekut Everria, what was she doing and why did she not correct all the mistakes? I thought proof-readers or beta-readers were two a penny but this failing sadly lets this book down.

Raf I'm No Angel was written in 1994, although it was published by Amazon in 2011 and is available as a 634 KB Kindle eBook. Raf Nadroy has a bright urban writing style that is easy to read. He does ramble on quite a bit in the same way as a friend talking in a pub can go off-topic but return to the thread of the story after a short while. There is not a strict time line in this narrative as bits are thrown in here and there before Raf returns to the time line. There is a gradual shift through time as the book develops but this is not absolute and things do crop up out of order. The general structure of this book is of short paragraphs and you get the impression that he wrote this book as a hobby, with a couple of paragraphs written every day after his day job. To illustrate his writing style I will end my review with a selection of quotes from his book...

It was no use. She tried but could not stay in school, because of the hunger of her and the small children. Not only that, she had to walk almost a mile just to get to school, because of the lack of money for carfare, to and from school...

Yet, the beautiful Japanese girl, or I should say women because she must have been fifteen years my senior. She felt that she was taking on a CHERRY-BOY-SON. To them it was a real turn on if a boy never had sex before. What a different world. It truly excited her, but after I had finished she quickly left the bed room for her trip to the bath room to wash up. Upon her return she was saying, NO, you no CHERRY-BOY-SON, YOU-NO-CHERRY-BOY-SON. You come to much...

After ringing up my item her next comment was, "If there is anything else you want just let me know". I looked and smiled at her and gave her my thanks. She again said, "If there is any thing I could help you with just let me know". I looked again at her eyes and said thank you once more. The next words even hit harder, "Do you understand what I am saying". This time my words were, yes, I do and I am honored, and again I thank you. This time I played the make believe itch on my nose game and exposed my wedding band. She saw it and again her reply was, "I understand, but the offer still stands"...

I remember, I always loved to go down on her and the way she moved to my action truly turned me on. After that moment I recall laying on my back and Lady Dawn would gently lower herself on to my face. It would drive her wild. I even let her finish in my mouth, then it was not over just yet...

That was when I decided to file for divorce from her. I was told that by my friend Manning, years before he passed away. If you see your former lady with another man and it does not bother you, that's when you are ready for the divorce...

Oh there are plenty of jobs for little money and work as if you were getting paid twenty dollars an hour. And I heard many a time by the locals, and I Quote them, "Nigger Jobs"...

The New Yorkers daughter was no house maker. But I am sure she was a good fuck. Most young women are that way today. They grow up so fast and could even become make up artist in Hollywood but they cannot wipe their ass properly after going to the bath room...

...The ending was okay and I felt that Raf was well aware of all the mistakes that he had made. He only did the best that he could do at the time but sadly things did not work out for him. He was just unlucky the way his life unfolded and although he always worked so hard to make things work, sometimes with women there is little any man can do to make their relationship last.