Rating: 
Summary: page turning tales giving insight to the trials of childhood
Review: For me, this book took a while to get into. It is difficult for a reader from the x-generation in California to relate to the stories written about Indiana during the depression. However, after a while I soon realized that children and teenagers have common experiences no matter where or when they grew up.
Rating: 
Summary: Anything written by Jean Shepherd is 5 stars
Review: For the person who asked where Jean Shepherd is, he passed away just recently this year. There is another thing about him that has been bothering me for years: there was a TV movie or presentation or play, I don't know what you'd call it, I guess a "slice of life" vignette, in the late 60's or early 70's, called "Phantom of the Open Hearth" written by Shepherd, that had my siblings and me on the floor holding our sides when we were kids and just happened to catch it on a Sunday morning. It made "A Christmas Story" seem sobering, and basically concerned a man whose family watches him order and receive an entire house in kit form, which he proceeds to unload willy-nilly from the railroad car, as it begins to rain. That is all I remember, and I have been unable to locate or even verify the existence of it. Please, does anyone remember this little movie, or am I mis-remembering?
Rating:
Summary: Really nails lots of things..
Review: Girls from other towns are hot stuff, especially if they're Catholic and Polish, and you're not. A boy's great first love is his Ford. There's something for everyone at a county fair. When you get ready for a hot date, you're going to cut yourself shaving (whether you needed to or not) and there will be a giant zit where you don't want it. If you live in a town where there's a foundary or steel mill, you'll enjoy grey snow. The rich, knockout blonde will cut you and never even glance back, and the next time she sees you, she'll call you by the wrong name.Jean Shepherd and Dan Wakefield both describe midwestern adolescence from the male perspective (from grade school to the draft board) better than anybody else I've run across, and Shepherd was there first. Interestingly, they both hale from Indiana. I stumbled onto the Wanda Hickey story way back when it came out in Playboy, and I still enjoy reading it.
Rating:
Summary: A staple of my teenage reading.
Review: Granted, this review biased. I have been a Shep fan since the 1970's, since his nightly radio show on NPR. "Wanda Hickey..." is a series of what one assumes to be semi-autobiographical stories about the author's teen years spent near the depression in industrial northern Indiana. The title story is a blow-by-blow of everyone's prom nightmare, a lovingly-told epitaph to high school. Other great stories include the semi-fictitious protagonist nearly becoming ensnared by the siren song of cabbage and polka by the new Polish girl next door, and a literary rumination of the county fair which sounds like any county fair I've ever seen.Shep's most well-known contribution to the American national consciousness was his penning the original short stories that were compiled into "A Christmas Story", on which he also serves as the narrator. Most of these stories came from "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash", another classic from what I consider to be one of the best humorists of his generation. This is one of my prized books, one that does not get loaned under any conditions.
Rating:
Summary: A staple of my teenage reading.
Review: Granted, this review biased. I have been a Shep fan since the 1970's, since his nightly radio show on NPR. "Wanda Hickey..." is a series of what one assumes to be semi-autobiographical stories about the author's teen years spent near the depression in industrial northern Indiana. The title story is a blow-by-blow of everyone's prom nightmare, a lovingly-told epitaph to high school. Other great stories include the semi-fictitious protagonist nearly becoming ensnared by the siren song of cabbage and polka by the new Polish girl next door, and a literary rumination of the county fair which sounds like any county fair I've ever seen.
Shep's most well-known contribution to the American national consciousness was his penning the original short stories that were compiled into "A Christmas Story", on which he also serves as the narrator. Most of these stories came from "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash", another classic from what I consider to be one of the best humorists of his generation.
This is one of my prized books, one that does not get loaned under any conditions.
Rating:
Summary: Funny, and truthful. You'll feel he is writing about you.
Review: I first discovered Jean Shepherd's writing in a trash dump near my grandparents' home. I and my friend Curtis had nothing better to do than to poke around in a trash dump. This time we struck gold. A Playboy magazine! The very thing a couple of 7th grade boys in 1968 wanted to see. After sneeking it home and pouring over it several hundred times, I began to notice that there was writing in it, and a story caught my eye. "Wanda Hickey's Night of Golded Memories" was the title. I read it. I not only found it halarious, I somehow identified with it even though I hadn't dated a girl yet much less attended any kind of high school prom. It's one of those rare works that manage to entertain, strike a chord down inside of you, and do it all without cheap sentiment or vulgarity. It gets better the more times you read it. Jean Shepherd's writing will reduce you to tears (the good laughing kind). Check it out.
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Summary: Not just about Wanda Hickey!
Review: I have some advice for all you readers. With the dawn of the Internet sometimes we cast our books aside and spend more time playing around on the computer than we need to. I found myself neglecting books I wanted to read. Mr. Shepherd is a bit older than I am, so I can't relate to the years or events that he spoke of totally. He talks about childhood and teenage memories, and I found that with a little updating we can all relate to at least some of what he went through growing up. First, try turning off some of the brainless night-time shows and leaving the computer off a few evenings, so you can rediscover all books. Second, pick up this gem by Jean Shepherd. A few pages into it, and I laughed until I was almost in tears. I did this alot throughout the book. This book of memories left behind by Mr. Shepherd is a real treat! Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: A bona fide laff-riot
Review: I made the mistake of reading this on an airplane once. I almost had an aneurysm trying to stifle my laughter. This is a book that you'll read over and over. Only, be forewarned; you'll have to buy multiple copies--once you lend it to a friend, you'll never see it again.
Rating:
Summary: Read this book
Review: I read this book, handed to me as a must read! I thoroughly enjoyed ever page and the loud laughter it induced. The joy of the memories of my youth flooded back even being from a different era. Every one who was a child will enjoy the insights and memories rekindled by this book.
Rating:
Summary: If this book doesn't make you laugh, nothing will!
Review: I really enjoyed reading these collections of short stories. Each story was just long enough to really get in touch with Ralphy's personality, and everything was extremely humerous. Even though the novel was set in the 30's it really hit home, everyone can relate to him in one way or another. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loved the movie, "A Christmas Story".
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