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Summary: Satire of Middle America at It's Best
Review: Jean Shepherd really knows what he's talking about. This book is a wonderful satire of life in Middle America; it will bring back many memories, even if you didn't live in the Midwest. I had a smile on my face the whole time I read it, that is when I wasn't laughing too hard to smile.
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Summary: Everymanchild's experiences of growing up in America
Review: Jean Shepherd shares his coming of age, and every man in America can relate, even if we have not had identical experiences. Shepherd's talent for description is beyond compare.But beware, this is one of those books that will have men convulsed by laughter. And when we are, we want to share these stories with our lovers. And experience shows that women, upon hearing a particularly pithy Shepherd paragraph, will invariably say, "That's not funny. That's stupid." They just don't understand
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Summary: Loving satire
Review: Jean Shepherd's deft, affectionate, daffy sendup of his depression era childhood is one of the most charming reads you'll ever stumble across. For those unfamiliar with Shepherd, his writing is a wonderfully relaxed, rambling sort of gentle satire. There's nothing especially laid back about reading it; you're going to laugh out loud at this book, and there's plenty of hypocrisy being skewered and all that. Shepherd just lacks the sort of bitterness you expect from some other "humorists." His overall tone is more amused self-deprecation than anything else. In short, Jean Shepherd makes the perfect bedtime read for grownups. This particular book also happens to include the chapter or two on which the classic movie "A Christmas Story" was based, so it's been rereleased in a form that'll make a relatively cheap, great gift under the tree.
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Summary: A great book for those who want to relive childhood
Review: Like many other reviewers, my first taste of Jean Sheperd came from seeing the film "A Christmas Story", and anyone who has seen that film will find many of these stories instantly recognizable. Although my childhood was a lot more recent than the situations in this book describe, this book nonetheless brought me back to those far more innocent days of youth. This book is very funny, and Sheperd's ability to describe scenes and situations is excellent. In fact, the set-up of these stories is often far more entertaining than the pay-off, which generally is something blowing up or some riot occuring. The greatest part of this book for me was the general description of the Christmas season, the 4th of July fireworks, the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade, the corny movie promotions, etc. It sounds cliche, but he really does put you right there and make you feel like you are actually experiencing all of these things. The only flaw in the book were the interludes. This book is made up primarily of a bunch of different stories which are not really interconnected with each other. To make this work as a "novel" Sheperd sets up scenes in the "present" tense that involve the main character (Ralph) reminiscing about old times with his childhood pal, Flick. All of these scenes have a very forced quality about them, and the dialogue sounds unnatural since it exists merely to segue from one story to the next. I probably would have given the book 5 stars if it was just a book of stories without the awkward interludes.
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Summary: Shepherd's works strike a chord in all of us.
Review: Like the others, I grew up within range of WOR, and so became infatuated with this author. Since his show was followed by Long John Nebel, it was difficult to get to sleep on any weeknight before 2 AM in 1963. If you could get tickets on Saturday night to the Village's "Limelight", you could hear Shepherd's tales in person. The stories are no less funny and whimsical in this book as they were on radio or during those live performances. Shepherd has admitted to being heavily influenced by George Ade, whose books also contain a similar drole humor born from simple, common, folksy experiences that 99% of us had. A good read for anyone who has grown up anywhere in America, or wants to know what America is like.
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Summary: Humorous look at life in "The Region."
Review: Living all of my life in Northwest Indiana, I've always had a soft spot for Jean Shepherd and his satirical look at life in "The Region." Although many of the mannerisms portrayed in this book might seem vastly over-exaggerated, let me assure you that they often are not! Beer, bowling scores, cars, high school basketball and the mills still run paramount here. This is a wonderfully funny, dysfunctional book and should be required reading for anyone who plans on moving to, or even simply visiting, this area. After finishing it, I knew I'd never look at this place the same, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.
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Summary: A CLASSIC TO BE READ ALOUD ... IN SHEPHERD'S VOICE
Review: Many readers remember Shepherd from his radio days and all of these stories have been told in different ways over the air so the best way to read them is to imagine him reading it to you (in his voice) as though you're huddled next to that old radio or snuggled under covers listening to a little transistor. Mr. Shepherd's recent death only highlights the lack of real, thoughtful and off-the-cuff humor in today's media. Some of these stories may seem familiar to anyone who's seen A CHRISTMAS STORY because they're based on Shepherd's tales in this, his first collected fiction. May he rest in peace and be given the proper respect his humor deserves.
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Summary: Very good stories
Review: Some say they remember these stories in Playboy. I remember them all from his radio show on WOR in New York before the book was published. He was a great storyteller, sort of the Howard Stern of his day, in a way. In a more innocent time, maybe. I don't know why he retired, but I suppose he must get some satisfaction in having written a Christmas classic.
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Summary: The real Ralphie
Review: The Fourth of July and Other Disasters. That was the title when I first saw a PBS(?) run version of Ralphie's life back in the mid 1970's. My family still jokes about the characters they used in that production, and we were delighted when A Christmas Story came out. Anyone who enjoys satire and a good laugh will like this book. It's always good to find a book that isn't based on the "meaner" side of life.
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Summary: Flick lives........
Review: the original and still the greatest. Shepperd is this countries best writer since mark twain.A must for all ages.....back of my hand to gen x'ers who would be totally clueless in any of jeans works. God bless jean and all his works...... live long and propser
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