Comment by IAmBroom

A generation of us grew up deeply coveting a pet coon, and have never given up on that dream, really...

The shocker for me was the bit about Rascal learning not to wash his sugarcubes before eating (or actually, to rinse once, because he was OCD about washing his food). Not that itself, although fascinating and charming; the idea that sugar was rationed to the author's family was mindblowing to juvenile me.