New Book Alert: Trailer Trash: An ‘80’s Memoir by Angie Cavallari; Totally Detailed and Radical Memoir Is Perfect For Children of The ‘80’s
By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
I have two reasons to identify with Angie Cavallari's book, Trailer Trash: An ‘80’s Memoir. 1) Like Cavallari, I was a child of the ‘80’s and spent some of that gnarly time growing up in Florida (Ft. Walton Beach to be precise) and 2) My Mom grew up in Tampa, Florida as Cavallari did. So we both understood and enjoyed many of the things Cavallari spoke of in her book.
Cavallari, her parents, sister, and brother moved to the Pelican Mobile Home Park in Tampa, Florida in 1980 where her parents managed the trailer park. Cavallari's childhood was forever linked with the park, its eccentric residents, and memories of MTV music videos, Rubik's Cubes, and E.T.
Trailer Trash doesn't have a large plot so much as it features several small moments organized into chapters with minimal dialogue. That works well for this book. Cavallari's reminisces are rich in detail and recall that bring these moments to life. When she describes the tedious task that she and her siblings had of cleaning the trailers, the Reader's nose wrinkles at the accounts of soiled sheets, drug paraphernalia, broken bottles and who really wants to know what else.
The highlight of any book set in the ‘80’s, especially for those of us who grew up in that time, is the constant parade of trends, fads, entertainment, and other signs of an ‘80’s upbringing. The book is peppered with various songs and music videos such as Genesis’ “Land of Confusion,” Debbie Gibson's “Lost in Your Eyes”, and The Bangles’ “Eternal Flame” that are probably meant to present earworms for the average Reader. Cavallari described various activities like playing on a Slip and Slide and going to a skating rink (called originally enough, the United Skates of America) as well as watching prime time shows like Thee A Team, Dukes of Hazard, and Knight Rider, and You Can't Do That on Television on Nickelodeon and Don Knott's movies on the Disney Channel. She also writes about fashion trends like extremely permed hair and large fist-sized hoop earrings. These memories will fill former ‘80’s kids with warm nostalgia or embarrassed derision (and will no doubt give children or younger relatives and friends more fuel with which to tease them.).
Cavallari also captures the Florida setting so well that my mother who is also a former resident of Tampa Bay recognized them. Cavallari frequently watched Dr. Paul Bearer, the local Creature Feature host who showed older cheesy horror movies (no doubt directed by the likes of William Castle). She also writes of visiting the Ben T. Davis Beach (AKA Tampa Bay Beach) which far from being a paradise, Cavallari considered it crowded, noisy, hot, and extremely polluted and dirty. Cavallari even states that the only thing she hated more than cleaning the mobile home units was “going to the beach with (my) Mom.”
Cavallari also captures the eccentric spirit of a state that thrives on tourism. She visited the usual theme parks such as Walt Disney World (which she described as the only place her “family behaved themselves.”) and Busch Gardens. She also acknowledges the stranger tourist sites that Central Florida had to offer like Gibsonton, a small town that was home to various carnival workers during the winter season. Cavallari described the homes with amusement park rides in their front yards and dives run by sideshow entertainers in a way that both teases them for their weirdness and respects them as people who live for standing out in the crowd and being themselves.
Cavallari also offers helpful lists including glossary terms and descriptions of the various tenants. The glossary terms offer the lingo that is used in the trailer park as well as nearby Gibsonton. The glossaries are hilarious and helpful with terms such as “Mobile Homes” (what the residents prefer to call trailers) or “TPD” (the Tampa Police Department who seemingly get called in at least once a day.) The Gibsonton section is rich in terms like such as “Mark” (people who attend carnivals so named because the employees could easily con them to take part in the rigged games) and brilliantly foreshadows the Cavallari's eventual move to Gibtown (Gibsonton to the locals).
The residents are also described in a list format which focuses on their oddities making them a bizarre memorable bunch. They range from Florence who wore halter tops and no brassieres and was often seen walking to and from the liquor store to “Drive-Thru Bob” who was the first person Cavallari met who had an emergency tracheotomy and Bob’s wife, Alice, who was an expert in all things sitcom and would often describe various episodes in great detail. The Pelican Mobile Home Park appeared to be an odd assortment of alcoholism, drug addiction, and peculiar traits that could be signs of mental illness. It's no wonder that many of the tenants would eventually die of heart disease, natural causes and other means. These deaths would eventually cause the Cavallari's family to move and apparently traumatized her so much that she would later recall them in great detail and abandon in her book.
Cavallari captures her youth brilliantly. The end appears to set up a sequel in which the family moved from the trailer park to Gibsonton. I look forward to another trip down Cavallari's memory lane.
Trailer Trash doesn't have a large plot so much as it features several small moments organized into chapters with minimal dialogue. That works well for this book. Cavallari's reminisces are rich in detail and recall that bring these moments to life. When she describes the tedious task that she and her siblings had of cleaning the trailers, the Reader's nose wrinkles at the accounts of soiled sheets, drug paraphernalia, broken bottles and who really wants to know what else.
The highlight of any book set in the ‘80’s, especially for those of us who grew up in that time, is the constant parade of trends, fads, entertainment, and other signs of an ‘80’s upbringing. The book is peppered with various songs and music videos such as Genesis’ “Land of Confusion,” Debbie Gibson's “Lost in Your Eyes”, and The Bangles’ “Eternal Flame” that are probably meant to present earworms for the average Reader. Cavallari described various activities like playing on a Slip and Slide and going to a skating rink (called originally enough, the United Skates of America) as well as watching prime time shows like Thee A Team, Dukes of Hazard, and Knight Rider, and You Can't Do That on Television on Nickelodeon and Don Knott's movies on the Disney Channel. She also writes about fashion trends like extremely permed hair and large fist-sized hoop earrings. These memories will fill former ‘80’s kids with warm nostalgia or embarrassed derision (and will no doubt give children or younger relatives and friends more fuel with which to tease them.).
Cavallari also captures the Florida setting so well that my mother who is also a former resident of Tampa Bay recognized them. Cavallari frequently watched Dr. Paul Bearer, the local Creature Feature host who showed older cheesy horror movies (no doubt directed by the likes of William Castle). She also writes of visiting the Ben T. Davis Beach (AKA Tampa Bay Beach) which far from being a paradise, Cavallari considered it crowded, noisy, hot, and extremely polluted and dirty. Cavallari even states that the only thing she hated more than cleaning the mobile home units was “going to the beach with (my) Mom.”
Cavallari also captures the eccentric spirit of a state that thrives on tourism. She visited the usual theme parks such as Walt Disney World (which she described as the only place her “family behaved themselves.”) and Busch Gardens. She also acknowledges the stranger tourist sites that Central Florida had to offer like Gibsonton, a small town that was home to various carnival workers during the winter season. Cavallari described the homes with amusement park rides in their front yards and dives run by sideshow entertainers in a way that both teases them for their weirdness and respects them as people who live for standing out in the crowd and being themselves.
Cavallari also offers helpful lists including glossary terms and descriptions of the various tenants. The glossary terms offer the lingo that is used in the trailer park as well as nearby Gibsonton. The glossaries are hilarious and helpful with terms such as “Mobile Homes” (what the residents prefer to call trailers) or “TPD” (the Tampa Police Department who seemingly get called in at least once a day.) The Gibsonton section is rich in terms like such as “Mark” (people who attend carnivals so named because the employees could easily con them to take part in the rigged games) and brilliantly foreshadows the Cavallari's eventual move to Gibtown (Gibsonton to the locals).
The residents are also described in a list format which focuses on their oddities making them a bizarre memorable bunch. They range from Florence who wore halter tops and no brassieres and was often seen walking to and from the liquor store to “Drive-Thru Bob” who was the first person Cavallari met who had an emergency tracheotomy and Bob’s wife, Alice, who was an expert in all things sitcom and would often describe various episodes in great detail. The Pelican Mobile Home Park appeared to be an odd assortment of alcoholism, drug addiction, and peculiar traits that could be signs of mental illness. It's no wonder that many of the tenants would eventually die of heart disease, natural causes and other means. These deaths would eventually cause the Cavallari's family to move and apparently traumatized her so much that she would later recall them in great detail and abandon in her book.
Cavallari captures her youth brilliantly. The end appears to set up a sequel in which the family moved from the trailer park to Gibsonton. I look forward to another trip down Cavallari's memory lane.
Sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteIt was. I highly recommend it.
ReplyDelete