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Summary: Wolff creates a classic through honesty.
Review: I am doing a research paper on Tobias Wolff for my English class so I decided to read this book. I was shocked by Tobias Wolff's memory. Moreover, his honesty was even more credible. I noticed that throughout his childhood, Wolff desired money and solid relationships with family and friends. This was probably true because when he was a child, for the most part, he lacked both of these. In conclusion, in all fairness, this book can be called the modern day Huck Finn.
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Summary: Extremely spellbinding and difficult to put down.
Review: Wolff's memories are better than fiction. It took me quite some time to read his book because I kept going back and rereading many things. This is a book that will definetely get read over and over by me and is one for my collection.
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Summary: It is worth reading.
Review: The book was awesome. The raw emotion and honesty of Tobias Wolff is worth noting. He said what he wanted to say and meant it. You don't find many writers who will do that.
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Summary: A well written book; startlingly honest.
Review: Tobias Wolff's first memoir is fantastic. You really get a feeling for what it must have been like to go through the life that he did.I don't have step-parents, so I don't know what it would be like (hopefully his story is fairly unique though), but I imagine that it would be difficult. It seems like he didn't really try to make the best of his situation, but that is the biggest part of what makes this book appealing--the honesty. I can hardly believe some of what he admits to in this book (or more precisely, I can hardly believe that he is admitting to this stuff). It made it hard to put down.
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Summary: Beyond eloquent.
Review: The only thing here which surpasses Wolff's insights about people and culture is his talent for language. I've used this book in my college writing classes for nearly five years now, and I can confidently say that it does more to teach more people more about how beautiful language and writing can be than any book I've ever read, used, or seen tried. Within a few days of reading it, even our modern less-than-focused Freshmen are eager to spend a whole class period discussing one magnificently crafted sentence, two stunningly perfect word-choices. And it's not just delightful as a work of writing, but plain funny as hell, too.
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Summary: Interesting in parts, but not well written.
Review: This book had some good parts, but this memoir was not interesting or unusual enough to warrant a published book. In addition, it was not very well written. This happened then this happened then that happened--that's what it read like. There was no feeling; it was hard or impossible to "get into" the book and feel what the author felt.
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Summary: A sad story so well told that it uplifts and entertains.
Review: Having read "This Boy's Life" I now will read everything else that Tobias Wolff has written. A powerful tale of a young boy's life as he goes down the rough path that has been experienced by many a boy victimized by divorce and subsequent poor choices that parents and ex-parents make. Mr. Wolff's clarity of recall of the events of this story and his understanding of his and other's actions and motives combine to put us firmly in his shoes and to experience many of his tales as if we were there. I highly recommend this book to all, particularly if you as a young man experienced the negative effects of your parents divorce and their subsequent poor choices with carreers and/or relationships.
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Summary: I use it in my 11th grade English classes. It is successful.
Review: My eleventh-grade students love This Boy's Life. Our school is located 16 miles west of Concrete,Washington. They recognize the river, the mountains, the town, etc., but best of all, it helps them realize that the life experiences they are now living are the same life experiences young adults have lived before. They also appreciate having guest speakers, especially those who knew "Jack," as a wanna-be juvenile delinquent. One of my former student's father was the basis for one of the characters in This Boy's Life. Using this book in my English classes helps my students understand that literature can be relevant. They can relate to it much more than they can to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or other similar stories dealing with the loss of innocence. They also appreciate Jack's experiences and the fact that he survived and became successful in spite of it all. Many of them have had a Dwight or two in their lives. This is not a beautiful, heart-warming story, but it is a reassuring story for kids who are living similar lives.
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Summary: _This Boy's Life_ has no life!!!
Review: I read this book for summer reading and hated it! Had I not been forced to read it, I would have put the book down after the third page and never seen it again. Nothing happens in this worthless book, for it is a waste of both time and money to buy it. DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. You must have more productive things to do (such as counting the number of hairs on your pet cat)
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Summary: I loved this book from the very start!!!!!!!
Review: This has got to be the best book that I have ever read. It gave me a whole new idea at what life is like through the eyes of Tobias Wolf. I would recomend this book to anyone who likes to learn about people and their troublesome lives.
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