The Fabulous 50s: For the irrepressible ‘BobbyRandall’ (in the deep South, they liked to tie your first and last name together), it was--to borrow from Dickens--the best of times and the worst of times. When you’re coming of age with wild hormones, first love, a dysfunctional family and the ‘guilt, fear and propaganda’ served up daily at St Aloysius Catholic Academy, you’re pretty much guaranteed a bumpy ride.
But ride our angst-filled protagonist does, through the roller coaster era that gave us Brando and Marilyn Monroe, Elvis and Fats Domino, Grace Kelly and James Dean. Not to mention the Cold War and hula hoops, the exciting new medium of television and a new kind of music called ‘rock ‘n roll.’ As if that weren’t enough, the 1950s also brought us fallout shelters, the Korean War, sack dresses and ducktail haircuts.
Yes, it was an exciting time, nowhere more so than in Meridian, Mississippi, where our young Quixote copes with a controlling mother, the terrifying Sister Bertrand, and the sexually reluctant girl of his dreams, Bobby Jean Ryan.
From the legendary black bottom pie at Weidmann’s Restaurant to ‘making out’ at the Royal Drive-In--from a pool shark named Lenard to the mad dentist, ‘Doctor Death,’ you’ll get Lost in the 50s in Meridian, Mississippi in Robert R Randall’s lively, poignant and hilarious memoir.