Adult/High School–The Thunderbolt Kid was born in the 1950s whensix-year-old Bryson found a mysterious, scratchy green sweater with asatiny thunderbolt across the chest. The jersey bestowed magic powers onthe wearer–X-ray vision and the power to zap teachers and babysittersand deflect unwanted kisses from old people. These are the memoirs ofthat Kid, whose earthly parents were not really half bad–a loving motherwho didn't cook and was pathologically forgetful, but shared her loveof movies with her youngest child, and a dad who was the greatestbaseball writer that ever lived and took his son to dugouts and intoclubhouses where he met such famous players as Stan Musial and WillieMays. Simpler times are conveyed with exaggerated humor; the authorrecalls the middle of the last century in the middle of the country (DesMoines, IA), when cigarettes were good for you, waxy candies wereconsidered delicious, and kids were taught to read with Dick and Jane.Students of the decade's popular culture will marvel at the insularinnocence described, even as the world moved toward nuclear weapons andcivil unrest. Bryson describes country fairs and fantastic ploys tomaneuver into the tent to see the lady stripper, playing hookey, paperroutes, church suppers, and more. His reminiscences will entertain awide audience.