The Boy With the Thorn in His Side: A Memoir

Rating:
Summary: A Colorless Tale
Review: The author goes on to describe endlessly how he is the victim of a dysfunctional family that is not a new concept in modern society. He uses terms such as "incarceration", "disfiguring acne", and exploits his love affair with his Latino girlfriend whom he negatively refers to as a "wetback" by describing unnecessary explicit sexual details to make his story more colorful and interesting. Keith's account of his turbulent and confusing teenage years lack emotion and spirit. As I was reading it, it seemed as though he was describing his story as if it were being viewed through a movie screen. Clearly this is a typical and common account of the trials and tribulations of a troubled teen from an upper middle class background, and not of someone who is a product of a family with fewer resources.

Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: This book was, at times, painful to read; mind you, this is not because it was bad. Far from it, in fact. Simply put, Fleming's recollections had great resonance for me, as I suspect they will for many others. The honesty and insight I found in the book has stayed with me and will for some time. This is nothing short of a masterpiece, and I'm not given to hyperbole. (You'll have to trust me on that one.) Also, I love The Smiths, which is neither here nor there.

Rating:
Summary: Bravo!
Review: This is one of the many memoirs / autobiographies, relating to the ubiquitous stories of 'troubled youth'. Flemmings emotional maturity and consistently strong writing has aloud him to tell the story of a turbulent adolescence akin to "Girl Interrupted", "Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius", etc. I was not drawn to this novel for Ed White, but rather found it in the bookstore Biography section by chance. I have seen criticisms of Flemming's dupe on the public as advertising this to be a memoir of Ed White, but it this really the case? At face value, this is a remarkable memoir of a troubled journey through adolescence devoid of all "poor me" sentiments that the other above-mentioned memoirs seem to convey. I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone - it is a gem!