Summary ” Fort Greene Dreams”

Nelson George`s “Fort Greene Dreams” is a short memoir in which he recalls his life changing move from Jamaica, Queens to Fort Greene, Brooklyn. George further recalls growing up in Brooklyn yet these familiar old streets seemed foreign to him, not totally clueless however he knew that Fort Greene was previously home to basketball greats Albert & Bernard King. Also George goes on to mention his new address 19 Willoughby Avenue was, one much superior to his own and how he loved the convenience of having the hub of public transportation at his fingertips. George marvels at the spaciousness of his new apartment and said how his ambitions grew broader while living at 19 Willoughby Avenue. In addition to this George goes on to mention how he lived there from 1985 to 1992 and says that “the most important years of my life in terms of immersion in music, film, writing, sex”.  Furthermore George goes on to mention how at night he would go out to get take-out food and stroll by house of other famous film directors like Spike Lee and many other famous artists. After discussing several less significant moments that took place while he lived at 19 Willoughby Avenue he went on to say how when, Spike Lee’s movie She`s gotta have it was released Fort Greene became recognized as the “home base” for Nelson Georges generation. George goes on further to talk about a famous photo he remembers having been taken by the New York Times with himself, Spike Lee, Lisa Jones, and many other famous people from Brooklyn. Furthermore George discovered that he learned what kind of person he was in the sense of being a writer, lover and son. Nelson George goes on to conclude by discussing how the most important lesson he learned was “to measure myself not by sudden success or rapid failure but by my body of work”.