Rating: Summary: A Wonderful Book! Review: This story of a man overcoming his horrible and challenging childhood will put tears into your eyes. The thought of a man being able to overcome such a defeat will always baffle me. This book is the finale in a series of three books about his awful childhood in California. He writes in this book about his adult life and overcoming his awful fears that are always with him. One of the worst child abuse cases ever known, he has a lot of growing and forgiving to do. He has to forgive his mother who beat him, and made his life so horrible. He has to come to reality that his father is dying and there is nobody to care and watch, as his dad dies all alone. He has to come to grips with life having to raise his son and become a successful father and person in this world. This remarkable story will touch anyone who reads it and will always make you feel lucky. The triumphs that he overcomes just by getting out of the "Hell House" are remarkable. He becomes his own person and successfully joins the air force and starts his family with more love then anyone ever could give. His love for his son comes from deep in and there will always be a bond between them. He overcomes things in life by finding new things to love. He wants to love his son with more love than anything in this world. He wants him to know the love that he himself never knew. A book that will surely touch the heart of all it's readers. A star is to be born in the new author David Pelzer
Rating: Summary: Dave is admirable - EXCEPT for FORGIVING EVIL Review: I've seen a number of people mention their admiration that Dave has forgiven his mother, yet their disgust at the criminality of his father for "not doing something". I find this both perplexing and nauseating, because it's a warped outlook. If they have disgust with the latter, they should DOUBLY condemn the principle of forgiving evil!Dave, of all people (who has the status of hero to so many) ought NOT to spread the message that it's OK to forgive evil, which his mother personified. That's a warped message to be spreading, since people who forgive evil are liable eventually to be callous to good people. Part I VERY MUCH admire: The fact that, even though Dave had been put through hell, yet he summoned up the excruciatingly-difficult objectivity necessary in dealing with and rectifying a callous world. Why? So that the *world* could handle it. Yet I bet the vast majority of the world, had they been in his shoes, would have self-pitied, self-destructed, or turned criminal. THEORY: WAS HIS MONSTER-MOM PERHAPS POSSESSED BY EVIL ENTITIES DUE TO ALCOHOLISM?? This might explain why Dave's dad was so deathly afraid of his wife - maybe she had superhuman strength during possession? Who can imagine what dire consequences an evil entity (speaking via his wife) might have threatened him with? (I read that the Son of Sam serial killer admitted to Father Malachi Martin that he'd been possessed. So my theory is not that farfetched!
Rating: Summary: Gripping true story of a man's transformation into adulthood Review: This is the best page-turner book I've read in ages! I recommend reading all of Dave Pelzer's books. "A Child Called It" was the first one I read and Dave has shown his ability to keep you interested by recounting his real life horrors in a way that will open your eyes if you have a soul. Awareness is the first step to making the necessary changes in protecting our young. Dave shares the choices he made, good and bad, that led him to the epitome of strength he portrays today. He shows us all there is a way to be victorious in the shadow of adversity.
Rating: Summary: a healing book Review: This book talks about how when Dave was a little boy, the way his mother treated him, unequal to his brothers. And how he recuperated over the years that he was seperated from his mother. He say's that the voice and face still haunt him in his mind. He say's that he will never fully heal from what she put him through as a child. He found out that, in heart and soul, as a nameless little boy he finally was a free man.
Rating: Summary: An Inspirational Story of Perseverance Review: A Man Named Dave by Dave Pelzer is the inspiring conclusion to the trilogy also including A Child Called It and The Lost Boy. This suspenseful and inspiring novel teaches its readers the importance of strength and perseverance. Through Pelzer's adult experiences and remembrances of his past childhood, one learns that strength and determination are able to help one survive anything. As a grown adult in this last book, the reader sees Pelzer still struggling with his childhood experiences. The ways in which Pelzer's mother treated him as a child have left him with a lifelong feeling that he is unworthy of the rest of the human race, and that he had done something to bring this upon himself. All through A Man Named Dave, Pelzer faces infinite struggles in finding himself and finding his place in the world. This novel follows Pelzer's journey from a confused boy to an admirable man, and along his way, one realizes that he too, can successfully complete his journey. A Man Named Dave conveys a fitting conclusion to the story of an amazing man. In the struggles, defeats, and more importantly, in the triumphs of Dave Pelzer, a story of human strength is told. Pelzer's tale of his inspirational journey is one in which everyone should share, and teaches that with strength and determination, one might accomplish anything.
Rating: Summary: Another Powerful Book Review: This is the third book of the trilogy. It too is a good book. Dave enters the Air Force and is part of Desert Storm. He gets married to his first wife. He and his first wife have a son. Dave is very devoted to his son. Eventually Dave divorces his first wife. He received a JC Penney Golden Rule as well as one of the ten Oustanding Young People awards for his work with kids in juvenile detention centers. Dave meets Matsha whom he eventually marries. It's a book about a young man who has overcome many obstacles to get where he is today. It is not easy for Dave because of his past.
Rating: Summary: Excellent story about self-redemption and forgiveness Review: I recommend "A Man Named Dave" to anyone who is interested in reading about hope, success in perseverance, and the power of forgiveness. It is an intense book that will keep you thinking about all his messages and all the emotions he went through well after you finish reading the last page. What amazed me the most about Pelzer and the book itself was the many amazing instances where he had to fight the urge to give up hope and be wasted away into a life of crime and impoverishment, in order to live a success life which entailed helping others who are less fortunate. In turn, he was also able to find satisfaction in his own personal life by dealing with his past and enjoying living his current life. I recommend it!!
Rating: Summary: Absolutely Amazing Review: I don't understand what people are having a problem with. This story is true and it CAN happen, even today. Why is that so hard to fathom? I'm sorry if everyone hasn't lived a perfect life like the other reviewers but they need to wake up!!! The whole trilogy is amazing but not for the sensitive.
Rating: Summary: CRUEL AND UNJUST PUNISHMENT Review: It is appalling that a mother would do this to her own child. What has been done to bring this woman to justice? In my opinion, she's no better than the Beast of Buchenwald! However, I never understood why his father allowed it. His father was a firefighter; a public servant. He would not even protect his own child. I know he drank, but that was no excuse. The school personnel and caseworkers who sought to get him out of that situation ought to be given a medal. Many would have talked to the Beast and accepted her rationalizations, knowing better, but just not wanting to go to the trouble. Others would say "the family should be together, no matter what". Whatever their excuses, a little boy was the one suffering beatings and starvation and extreme indignities, not them. Teachers, ER personnel, and caseworkers should be held accountable for not speaking out and adequately aiding a child who is being abused. If he or she has to answer to a court of law for not taking action to remove that child from the abusive situation and the child dies or is disabled due to the abuse, that might help children in such horrible situations. I've talked to POW's who have received similar treatment. It scarred them for life; they were grown and suffered at the hands of nonfamily. This book ought to be required reading for all.
Rating: Summary: Pelzer Review: Start with 'A Child Called It' - David Pelzer is the most amazing author - his honesty will both frighten (how many of us would be so candid about our childhoods?) and enlighten you.
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