Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

1 Final Exams, 1968 3

2 Ready for College. 1904 8

3 Christmas, 1950 14

4 Back to Saltillo, 1951 21

5 The Posse 31

6 The End of Innocence 39

7 From Rennie's Arms 44

8 College Begins 48

9 Following the Rules 54

10 The South Is Complicated 62

11 The Talent Contest 67

12 "Last Night" 75

13 Social Clubs and Other Challenges 81

14 Precocious Puberty 88

15 Some Friends Are Real 94

16 No Mercy 98

17 Is It Really Over? 101

18 To a Normal Life 105

19 First Day at Stax 112

20 Studio Sessions 118

21 Flow to Succeed at Christmas Without Really Crying 124

22 Alcohol, Pills, and the Dental Assistant 129

23 Much Ado about CC and Elvis 138

24 Dance of the Seven Deadly Sins 142

25 And Then Came Hammerstein and Sondheim 149

26 Football 155

27 Sam & Dave 164

28 The Buildup 169

29 And, Finally, the Winner Is … 176

30 Desegregation: How It's Done and How It's Left Undone 183

31 Try a Little Tenderness 188

32 Lexington 192

33 Freud 197

34 Ups and Downs 202

35 The Year of Death and Dying 207

36 Beginning of the End 213

37 And the Winner Isn't … 219

38 Into the Fire 222

39 Out of the Ashes 227

Epilogue 235

Bibliography 237