Chapters 6-8, Mixers, Bippo, Una Summary

The next three chapters provide small pictures of recollections Eddie has, each a small look into typical adolescent life. In Chapter 6, the reader is introduced to "mixers," the beginning of the mating ritual for Catholic adolescents. Mixers are Friday night social events held in church basements or in school gyms, complete with phonograph music and soft drinks. Those held in the fall are particularly important, because both sexes are looking for their new loves for the school year. At the beginning of his sophomore year, Eddie begins the mixer circuit, meeting Dolores Crosley, a gorgeous girl with no personality. He asks her to a movie the following Saturday, a date she accepts. Eddie spends the duration of the movie attempting to muster the courage to put his arm around Dolores but is unable to do...