Larry Sullivan

Raising Mama: a Memoir Larry Sullivan

This is the story of the music, politics and culture during a seminal period of the ''baby boom'', 1958-1962. It's an often hilarious story told from a most unlikely point of view; a precocious child born to a dirt-poor Southern woman. RAISING MAMA is a memoir. The voice is from the point of view of a child who became virtually an adult at age ten. RAISING MAMA is a road trip. Larry Sullivan, the voice and lead character, attends eight schools in five states in five years, 1958-1962. His mother's favorite husband is a career criminal and, for Larry, reality is one surreal situation after another. RAISING MAMA is an American saga. It's a love story rivaling ROMEO & JULIET. It's TOM SAWYER in Jack Kerouac's world. The stream of consciousness narration is a literate voice from the underclass. Larry and his mother, Dot, are Cherokee descendants and their life is a matriarchy in constant conflict with the dominant culture. Larry is from Memphis, Tennessee and watches Rock 'n Roll being born in his hometown. All women who have committed to a relationship, had a child or participated in the workforce will understand Dot's plight. Few will understand Dot's reaction to her circumstances; sometimes hilarious, but frequently tragic. The family is irrevocably affected by the Cold War as Larry's step-dad tries to go straight for once. There is even a brush with infamy as MAMA works for one night for one of Jack Ruby's businesses. The narration describes the late 1950's as they were; with their racial tensions, anti-Communism and the beginnings of Rock 'n Roll and the counter-culture.