Sting-Ray Afternoons: A Memoir - Hardcover

Rushin, Steve

4.08

2,627 ratings by Goodreads

9780316392235: Sting-Ray Afternoons: A Memoir

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316392235 ISBN 13: 9780316392235

Publisher: Little, Brown US, 2017

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Steve Rushin's childhood featured Bic Pen spitball launchers, Mr. Clean and Scrubbing Bubbles, light sabers and Schwinn bikes, and a father whose job was selling 8-track tapes for 3M. In STINGRAY AFTERNOONS, he uses the objects of '70s America to tell the story of a father, and a family that seems right out of That '70s Show -- and begins to go its own ways at the dawn of the '80s.

A rare talent able to blend the laugh out loud funny with tender moments, Rushin invites readers into his childhood. His observations of America during this period -- its litterbugs, leaded gas, and cultural rebirth -- add up to a powerful memoir and a poignant look at a family that you'll want to share with every child of the '70s you know.

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Review:

"Steve Rushin's Sting Ray Afternoons is a fun and often hilarious account of growing up in the midwest in the 1970s. Throughout the book I was pleasantly reminded of things from my own past-Rushin revisits the TV shows, the toys, the games of the era while telling his family's own story. Sting Ray Afternoon captures both the freedom of youth and the universal longing for experience in a bigger, more adult world. If you grew up in the 1970s, prepare to have your memory triggered."--Craig Finn, songwriter and guitarist, The Hold Steady

"Charming and heartfelt, hilarious and touching, Rushin's Sting-Ray Afternoons is a pitch-perfect portrait of growing up in middle America during the Brady Bunch era. A gem of a memoir, a tribute to family, and a delectable slice of American history."--Nina Sankovitch, author of Tolstoy and the Purple Chair and The Lowells of Massachusetts

"Rushin uses his family as the book's focal point, capturing the nonstop zaniness of growing up with four siblings.... But it's Rushin's dad, a child of the Depression, who steals the show. Whether quoting his father as he describes his five kids...or retelling stories about him being drunk on what was the then new Boeing 747, it's through his father that Rushin captures the mystery and magic of childhood."--Publishers Weekly

A "touching nostalgic memoir.... A vivid and comedic approach to [Rushin's] personal touchstones for the era."--CBC Radio's "Day Six"

"In his funny, elegiac memoir Sting-Ray Afternoons, Rushin mines...ineffably familiar terrain with a sense of irony and deep affection, working hard to capture the look and feel of the 1970s...Much of what Rushin writes about - the Sears Christmas Wish Book, leaded gasoline, Johnny Carson's many vacations - will strike a chord with anyone who, like me, grew up in that era. What makes the book more than just late-baby-boomer nostalgia is the writing, which is knowing and funny."--Jim Zarroli, NPR

"Magnificent... You will not read a better book this summer - and maybe well into the fall and winter, too."-- New York Post

"Crisply written.... A moving account."--Douglas J. Johnston, Winnipeg Free Press

"A warm-yet-bittersweet fun-loving-yet-elegiac look at life.... A hell of a good spin in the wayback machine."--Signature Reads

Praise for Sting-Ray Afternoons

One of the Best Books of the Year: Amazon, Gold Digest, Minnesota Public Radio

"If you existed in the 1970s and had any awareness of the world around you, Steve Rushin's Sting-Ray Afternoons is going to hit you like the smell of Clairol Herbal Essence Shampoo. Smart as heck, laugh out loud funny and warm, Steve Rushin does for 1970s childhoods what Jean Shepherd did for 1940s Christmas. This book is nothing short of a Nadia Comenici Perfect 10."--Julie Klam, author of The Stars in Our Eyes and the New York Times bestseller You Had Me at Woof

Book Description:

A bittersweet, funny memoir of childhood told through a tour of 1970s America via its objects, history and culture

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