Book excerpt: While many books examine the effect that adult baby boomers have had on the country, politics, and society, few have dealt with the formative years of this influential generation-until now. Inspired by the recollections and nostalgic conversations from his fiftieth high school reunion, "typical" baby boomer Fred Arnow sets out to describe the events and environment in which he grew up. The result is a sometimes serious, often humorous examination of the world that shaped a generation. Focusing his remembrances around the graduating class of 1964, Arnow summons up powerful memories of growing up in the 1950s and coming of age in the 1960s, comparing them with the often turbulent world boomers occupy today. Baby Boomer Reflections is more than nostalgia. Arnow has created a storehouse of powerful memories boomers can share with their children and grandchildren, offering a chance to pass on the wisdom of a lifetime-a chance he wishes someone had offered him when he was a brash young man on the cusp of adulthood. Relive the events-good and bad-that made the boomers who they are. This is their story, set down on paper so that it will never be forgotten.