A Man Named Dave

Rating:
Summary: I am so glad I did
Review: I bought this book as well as Nightmares Echo. I am so glad I did. I cryed through most of this book, but I could not put it down. Indeed this author had/has courage beyond his years. In todays time, With people facing far less than this child went through...they run,they hide...they can not cope. But this child lives on and becomes someone special...in our world today. Opening our eyes to what has been going on around us. I rate this highly!! Janice

Rating:
Summary: A very important book about the journey of a survivor...
Review: This book with make your gut ache & your eyes water endlessly. Dave's story of survival is a remarkable one, & books like this one are important in shedding a light on the cruelties inflicted on children DAILY in our country. So many of us would love to believe that these don't happen...or that they happen "somewhere else," but they happen everyday...EVERY day....next door, down the street. Did you know that children die EVERY day in our country at the hands of child abuse? It is an epidemic of monstrous proportions, & books like Peltzer's shed a light on that epidemic...that plague. People don't like talking about this subject, but it is so vastly important that we do start talking about it....cut the monster's feet out from under him. Thank you to Peltzer & authors like him that write the painful words to share their painful stories to cause people to talk about the painful epidemic that is America's. (Did you know that more children die EVERY year in the hands of child abuse than the total number of people who died in 9-11 & Pearl Harbor combined? America must wage a war against child predators!))

Rating:
Summary: Dave Pelzer is one extraordinairy hero!
Review: First let me ask this of you: why on heaven's earth hasn't Dave yet been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize? Firstly, i read Dave's first book at a very difficult period in my own life, where i was confronting my own personal history. His in depth descriptions of his struggle to survive and heartfelt aspirations for both himself, his son Stephen, his new bride Marsha and those he met and is no longer involved with is so deeply moving and so honest. In this book, the third book Dave had written, we learn to see the real route of recovery that brings you to the heart of one amazing survivor. He lets you into his own private world, enchanting you in a text about his own personal discoveries and triumphs, who he becomes and who he always longs to be. i laughed and cried and cheered for Dave with all of my heart. His accomplishments far surpass that of any regular hero even, and the honesty and genuine care that he puts into these books is far beyond astounding. i actually sent my books to Dave himself & they came back lovingly signed, not more than one month after i sent them. He reminds me of what is real and true and just in what's become of people who have survived unbelievable odds and come out a beautiful person. i only wish that i were rich to give him and his family a giant castle to overlook the Russian River. Dave Pelzer could write a paragraph and it wouold be filled with chilling honesty and love. His bravery and discoveries with putting his willingness to forgive his abuser is both heart rendering and renewing of an incredible fighter, by no means the boy he was once labeled as by ignorant classmates or onlookers.

Rating:
Summary: inspirational and humbling
Review: I learned or relearned many life lessons as I read this book. It is amazing that this strong human being still feels so unworthy of so much. He should realize he is a beacon to many. I found this book encouraging and mind opening. It kind of reminds one not to sweat the small stuff, and to learn from our and others mistakes. Not to allow anger to build in us and to forgive others. Not only does this repair relationships and allow us to move ahead in our journeys through life, but it frees us from much uneeded luggage. The way David has used his experiences to help others is wonderful. He should have been a father to many, he sounds like a great dad. His words are written clearly, and with true feeling. As a reader you can feel his pain, excitement and joy. His faith and strenth in God is unending. A book many can learn from.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but Not as Good as the First 2
Review: When I met Dave Pelzer a few years ago, you could see the chips still in his teeth from his head being slammed against the counter. He showed off pictures of his wife Martha and his son Stephen. Also in his wallet, his father's badge, which choked him up as he talked about it.

This book is good, but not captivating like the first. I never quite understood why he felt that he needed to go back and see his mother. One thing that I didn't like about this book is how it talked so much about the writing of "A Child Called It". Though that is how the relationship between Dave and Marsha developed.

Another reviewer mentioned that he never explained why his mother had become so evil. I was thinking that too, but came to the conclusion that as a child, and even as an adult, he really didn't know. My personal guess would be mental illness and alcoholism.

It was also mentioned that he stayed loyal to his father until the end, and she wasn't sure why. If you read all 3 books, Dad stayed at the firehouse more and wasn't around. As a child, he idolized his father and his father never hurt him. I think Dave also saw more, especially when his father died, how his mother was toward his father and realized that's part of the reason he stayed away.

All in all, if you have read the first 2 books, you should read this one. You will see how Dave did in the Air Force and see how he handled things with his birth parents in his adult life.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I have to say that I was very disappointed by the entire "A Child Called It" series. I couldn't put down the first book, simply because the horror of it was so captivating. When I finished it, I couldn't believe that he did not explain anything about WHY his mother had turned so evil. So, like everyone else, I had to read the second book to find out. I felt so cheated by the second book because once again, he did no analysis on WHY, and rubs it in by specifically referring to it on the very last page! So, I bitterly continued onto the third book, staying up late just to finish it so I could get it over with (many parts were boring). He did spend about 1/2 a chapter trying to explain WHY, but he does such a terrible job of it that I was thoroughly disappointed. I also have NO idea why he is so loyal to his father. His father sat by and watched while his mother nearly killed him! And yet he defends his father to the end...it's completely crazy. His sentimental writing style is also completely unconvincing. Not that I doubt that he has a lot to offer because of his incredible experience, but he's definitely NOT a writer, and it's too bad that he wasn't able to address the issues of abuse and anger with a little more depth and complexity.

Rating:
Summary: the best of the 3 novels
Review: A few years ago one of my friends was reading a book called A Child Called "It". The cover intrigued me and the more she told me about the book the more I became interested in reading it. So I looked for it at our school library and checked it out. This book immediately engrossed me, so I decided to read The Lost Boy. I enjoyed The Lost Boy even more than A Child Called "It". So when I found out Dave Pelzer came out with a new book, A Man Named Dave, I immediately went out and bought it even before I had read it. A Man Named Dave, in my opinion, is the best of the three novels. The reason I liked this book more than the other two was, because he was stronger against his mother, he wasn't her "it" anymore. It was great when he stood up to his mother in all of the situations where he encountered her. I loved the fact that he tried so hard to be a great father to his son Steven. I enjoyed the fact that he didn't take after his mother parenting wise. Dave Pelzer has turned into a wonderful person despite all of the hardships he has gone through in his past. Dave has won many awards such as: The Points of Light Award, J.C. Penney Golden Rule Award, The Outstanding Young Persons of the World and was one of the Ten Outstanding Young Americans. I would recommend this book along with, A Child Called "It" and The Lost Boy to anyone, these books will really touch you.

Rating:
Summary: Best of the 3 novels
Review: A few years ago one of my friends was reading a book called "A Child Called It". The cover intrigued me and the more she told me about the book the more i became interested in reading it. So i looked for it at our school library and checked it out. This book immediatly engrossed me, so i decided to read "The Lost Boy". I enjoyed "The Lost Boy" even more than "A Child Called It". So when i found out that Dave Pelzer came out with a new book, "A Man Named Dave", I immediatly went out and bought it without even reading it first. "A Man Named Dave", in my opinion, is the best of the three novels. The reason I liked this book more that the other two was, because he was stronger against his mother, he wasn't her "it" anymore. It was great when he stood up to his mother in all of the situations where he encountered her. I loved the fact that he tried so hard to be a great father to his son Steven. I enjoyed the fact that he didn't take after his mother, parenting wise. Dave Pelzer has turned into a wonderful person despite all of the hardships he ahs gone through in his past. Dave has won many awards such as: The Points of Light Award,J.C. Penney Golden Rule Award, The Outstanding Young Persons of the World and was one of the Ten Outstanding Young americans. I would recommend this book along with, "A Child Called It" and "The Lost Boy" to anyone, these books will really touch you.

Rating:
Summary: Another Hit By Pelzer!
Review: Here it is! Book number three in the trilogy of his childhood and early adulthood! If you haven't read the two books leading up to this one ("A Child Called, 'It'," and "The Lost Boy"), I recommend you do so. However, even without those two books in your repertoire, this book is still highly recommended.

This is the conclusion of Dave's fight for a humane life. In this book, he deals with confrontation with his mother and the rest of that family, learning how to find true love and not get put into situations of vulnerability, joining the Air Force and finding his place in that part of his life, and much, much more!

I will admit that I wasn't as engrossed with this book as I was with his two previous accounts. Perhaps it's the sick part of me who wants to know private details or perhaps it's the fact that his style of writing changed depending on the age he was portraying in the book. For example, in "It," his writing was very easy to read and had a lesser amount of vocabulary that an adult would read. In "The Lost Boy," his writing was more mature, but still at the level of a teenager. Well, that leads to this book, where he is writing of his adulthood (part of it) and writing like an adult. Made me have to think more than I usually like to...

Highly recommended and very intense. Pick up this trilogy today. :v)

Rating:
Summary: Not up to his earlier standard
Review: The last in the trilogy, this book will bring you up to date with David's current situation. Yet, this book lacks both the charm of the earlier works, and the focus that years of separation (from the time of the experiences to the time of the writing) was able to bring to his work. The book reads like a journal written to help him work through his emotional problems--as suggested in the title, you will follow every single thought he has on his way to finding forgiveness. The book is exhausting in the way that books are that are not interesting to read, but that you feel like you should finish....

And while you will find the answers to many of the questions you asked yourself while reading the two earlier books, A Child Called "It" and The Lost Boy, Mr. Pelzer's editor (whom he married, which may explain some things) should have encouraged the same kind of preciseness and focus that characterized his earlier works. More, in this case, is definitely not better. Read only if you simply must find out what happened after David left the foster care system, and be prepared to feel terribly unsatisfied at the end.

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