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.