Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?

This book is loosely a novel, but really is more a collections of vignettes about Eddie Ryan, a kid attending an all boys Catholic high school in Chicago and his assorted friends. I think the first copy I read of this was my dad's, which makes sense as he would be a contempory of Eddie and did the all boys Catholic high school thing, albeit in the suburbs. The book takes on the lies nuns, priests, and Catholic brothers told them about the opposite sex (such as the title question) and life in general and discusses their affect on typical teenage problems such as school, dating, and their future. The book is very funny and kind of heartwarming too. It's a look at a now disappearing way of life. The Last Catholic in America about Eddie's grammar school years is also a worthwhile read.