Rating: 
Summary: Boy's Life
Review: Six Words: Excellent book. Couldn't put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Boy's Life
Review: Five Words: Excellent book. Couldn't put it down.
Rating:
Summary: childhood magic
Review: This is my favorite of Robert McCammon books, and I've read it many times. This book recaptures the magic that we all believed in when we were children. When we believed that bicycles were magical beasts, we could fly, and that there really is a monster in the sleepy river flowing by. But none of the happiness of a childhood summer hide the fact that there is something very wrong with the town, and a hidden secret that ends with murder.
Rating:
Summary: Give this one a shot; you won't regret it!
Review: My cousin gave me a copy of this book three years ago. I didn't get around to reading it until now, and now I'm kicking myself for not having read it sooner. I thought a Yankee girl who came of age in the '80's like myself wouldn't be able to relate to the adventures of a young Southern boy in the '60's. Boy was I wrong. The author places you firmly in the story with characters and settings that are sharply drawn. For those familiar with the author's other work, this isn't a straight horror/mystery story, so much as a portrait of life in the '60's South. The plot may not be tight, but that's not the point. This book is more of a journey through a magical time in a....well, you know.
Rating:
Summary: Did you love To Kill A Mockingbird? You'll love this!
Review: I read this book last summer, going into my sophomore year of high school, and was utterly entranced by it. Readers of all ages will laugh and cry along with the characters as they become transported back to their childhoods. The mood of the novel perfectly depicts every aspect of growing up and the adventures and hardships that go with it. It's absoultely amazing and a must-read for anyone.
Rating:
Summary: want to remember the magic of being a child?
Review: Remember when everything was magical to you? Come on I know if you really tried you could. Yes that's right all the years ago when you were a kid. Want to remember what it was like? If you do then I suggest you let Robert McCammon take you on a little trip in what I feel is without question the best book he has written and one of the best books I have ever read. Classic is truly the way to describe this piece. I won't go indepth to the story itself, but the book follows the story of Cory Mackenson a young boy (11yrs old)in 1964 and his adventures in Zephyr Alabama, a magical town. I know that one line doesn't sound too thrilling, but this truly is a story that has to be experienced. I've recommended it to numerous friends and I have yet to have a single person tell me that they weren't touched in some way by this book.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books ever written!
Review: This book is near the top of the best books I've ever read. There are frightening parts but this is not a horror novel as Mr. McCammon typically writes. McCammon is an accomplished storyteller with a knack for putting the reader right into the scenes of his novels. I felt as if I knew these characters intimately and even have memories of the times I spent with them. Read this book!
Rating:
Summary: A Better Dandelion Wine
Review: I'm a little disgusted with myself after finishing this book. I've read plenty of King -- 30 or more of his books -- as well as many offerings by Koontz and Barker and even, god help me, Bentley Little. Why did I wait so long to read Robert McCammon? I've known about him for years, even bought Night Boat more than 5 years ago without ever reading it. But I started Boy's Life last week and loved it. Of the 300 to 400 books I've read in my adult life, this is definitely in the top 20, and it's the best one I've read yet this year.McCammon mentions Bradbury's influence in his afterword, saying something to the effect that he could never compete with the man. This may be so, as far as reputation and body of work may go, but in the direct competition between Dandelion Wine, which I found disappointing, and Boy's Life, Boy's Life wins handily. This is even more surprising when considering that Boy's Life is nearly 600 pages and Wine is less than half of that. For those of you who need a strong plot, you probably won't like Boy's Life. I, myself, have loved the episodic style of storytelling since I read Huckleberry Finn several years ago, which is one of the reasons I gave Forrest Gump and Dandelion Wine and Boy's Life a try. Some of these episodes may edge toward the sappy side -- the children pretending that they're flying, the death scene between Cory and his friend, the "evil city" dream -- but the great thing about episodes is there is always another one right around the corner to make you forget the last one, and if two or three don't quite measure up to the rest, it doesn't have a detrimental effect on the whole. I admit, one of the things I liked most about this book was that Cory was an aspiring writer, like myself. I also wrote stories as a kid and remember the feeling of getting my first typewriter. I've also been through just a little of what Vernon Thaxter went through when his editors forced him to change his book, although in my case it's only been stories. You ask yourself if you're doing the right thing, changing your story so that you can see it in print. Better to have 80% your intended story published than none of it...right? Right? I don't know. I do know, however, that I will certainly read more of McCammon's work. It appears the most popular ones are this one, Swan Song and Gone South, which is one of his two that apparently are not "straight" horror. These are the ones that appeal the most to me, and I'll probably try Gone South first, and then maybe his book of short stories. It's too bad that he's retired, but you never know. The urge to write is a strong one, and it may claim him again at any time. But even if it doesn't, it's better to have had a short writing career than none at all...right? Right?
Rating:
Summary: A very uplifting and magical book.
Review: I thought this book was a very clever account of the various things that happen in a boy's life. McCammon addressed pretty much all of the usual things a young boy likes to do. He had the monster movies and baseball games right in there with the bike envy and dislke of church. There were so many beautiful and nostalgic occurances of youth. I loved the way he wrote events in a "kid's view." Some of my favorite examples of this are Cory's bike. I loved how he thought it was alive and how it drove him instead of him driving it. This is a fun book full of great hyperboles and an interesting twist at the end. It was a very beautifully written book.
Rating: 
Summary: The Stuff Boys Are Made Of
Review: Boy's life is good book. It has quite different approach to a book. It shows what a boy thinks at such a young age, which most people do not even remember. It takes a quite different approach to life in the 60's. It shows the struggles and life styles of the people of the age. The book is about a young boy Cory and his struggle through his young life. It shows the murder mystery concerning his dad that he must solve in order to keep his dad's sanity. His experiences with the Lady, a Black woman and even the struggles of being black in a small extent. A small towns fight with bootleggers and the scum of the country. This book shows cruelty to animals and death of a loyal member of his family. In addition, there is Vernon Thatcher, a wealthy man with actions of strange extent. Over all this is quite a good book and I recommend it to anyone with an imagination and a desire to read a good book.
| 
