Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?

John R. Powers “Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?” A Fictionalized Memoir, 1975, 270 pp

Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? is a book published in 1975 (part of a triology) and, much to my surprise, was subsequently adapted into a Broadway musical and a screenplay. Previous to this book, I read “The Last Catholic In America” which was about this same author’s Grammar school education experience in a Chicago Co-Educational Catholic school. This current book is a continuation of the author’s experiences covering his High School years in the mid 1960’s. Maybe it is just me, but I enjoyed and identified much more with the Grammar School co-educational focused book than the present book and the all-boys High School experience. This may be because I personally did not run into this all-boy thing until college. Anyway: Eddie discovers that growing up Catholic during your high school years means always having to say “I’m sorry.”

Some interesting excerpts from the book:
Pg. 11: Actually I only went to seven years of grammar school. In the first week of second grade, I got sick and spent the rest of the year at home. When I came back to school the following September, the nun took one look at me, decided I was tall enough, and sent me on to third grade.

Pg. 13: Felix Lindor, better known as “Felix the Filth Fiend Lindor,” proud possessor of the world’s dirtiest mind, was going to Bremmer High School in September. Felix had a mind that worked like the floor of a livery stable. Anyone who knew him for even a few minutes could easily envision Felix’s eventual epitaph: “Buried Under Six Feet of What He Loved Most.”

Pg. 21: Directly behind Bremmer High School was its huge “athletic field.” The athletic equipment consisted of grass.

Pg. 32: I did spend a few days of my first week of high school checking out some of the extracurricular activities. I thought about trying out for the freshman football team. But after looking in the mirror at my 115-pound frame, I decided not to, because of my religious beliefs. Catholics aren’t allowed to commit suicide.

Pg. 34: Ernie was eight years old before he discovered that pillows were soft. For some reason, that night he had gone to bed without his football helmet on.

Pg. 102: If you’re a cross-country runner, once you leave school the only way you’re going to make practical use of your ability is if you become ether a purse snatcher or the world’s fastest mailman.