Rating: 
Summary: Fuhrman's first and only effort
Review: Author Chris Fuhrman takes great fun in bashing and smashing the innocence of teen adolescents who attend a 1970s Catholic all-boys school. Being Fuhrman's untimely death occurred after the publishing of this book, THE DANGEROUS LIVES OF... will be his only novel. But what an amazing book it is!The novel's characters include wise-beyond-his years Francis Doyle and his new girlfriend he has been swooning over and admiring from afar, Margie. What he doesn't know but does learn is her terrible secret. Margie feels that he is the only one she can turn to for support. That and she's a little bit drunk over the champagne they've been sipping in her room in the company of Margie's cat - perhaps their first real date. Francis and company get into a whole lot of mischief. As for Margie, ever since her incident, her deep dark secret she must hide from the world, she's kept mostly to herself. She's quiet and timid while Francis and his friends are more brazen and outspoken. Because of the setting - a Catholic all-boys school in the 1970s, you know things will get good. You know there will be incessant plot twists and surprises. Yes, the ending surprised me most of all. I could feel hot tears burning my eyes and kept rereading the last 20 pages or so just to make sure I understood things correctly, to make sure it was all real. This book has some humor woven in but mainly it is a deep, dark story. Francis suffers from a hernia and his father's beatings have compelled him to turn to drinking. Margie once tried to commit suicide by slitting her wrists. The boys get into mischief, drinking church wine and artfully constructing comic books in which their fellow nun and priest teachers engage in various sexual practices. Incest is addressed and Fuhrman doesn't just LET things happen - there are always reasons for they way people are and why they became that way. The characters have honest depth and don't at all appear contrived or mechanical - in fact, they are unlike any I've ever known, seeming all the more real. So while I enjoyed the antics and pranks of Francis and his pals, I was able to separate the grave seriousness from humor. If you or someone you know has gone through something traumatic - rape, incest, etc. - this book is ideal, not to make them remember such a horriffic incident, but to help them cope. Fuhrman is such a talented writer and was blessed with true ability. It's a shame we lost him, but I'm at least happy his first novel made it to the editor's desk. This book allows you to feel a plethora of different emotions. You'll laugh, cry, and rejoice. You'll think, ask yourself questions, and you definitely will not forget THE DANGEROUS LIVES OF... any time soon.
Rating:
Summary: Poignant coming-of-age story
Review: Chris Fuhrman's short novel The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys is a slight but poignant coming-of-age story with a truly shocking ending. As the title suggests, the main characters in this novel are a gang of 13 and 14-year-old boys, students in a Savannah Catholic school, and the plot revolves around their pranks, troubles, and young love. For me, Fuhrman artless prose exactly captured the world of boys who were not yet men, whose female contemporaries suddenly had become (at least developmentally) women. The jacket biography says that Fuhrman died in his 30s while finishing this, his only book, and it was published through the efforts of a close friend (One is reminded of John Kennedy Toole, whose prize-winning A Confederacy of Dunces escaped obscurity only because his mother took it from editor to editor until she found a publisher). Were he still alive, I would very much look forward to Furhman's next book. As it is, Dangerous Lives is a worthy and worthwhile memorial.
Rating: 
Summary: HIGHLY recommended
Review: I am really not a connoisseur of books by any stretch of the imagination, but I saw the movie of this, thought it was really good, and spotted the book at the local bookshop and thought it a worthwhile gamble. I was very right. The first time I read it I thought it was good, but not too spectacular, an opinion probably having something to do with having seen the movie before reading the book as well as not being old enough to "get" it. But on a whim I just reread it over the past week and I was completely floored. I have never been so impacted by a book in my whole life to say the least. Within five minutes of having finished the book last night at 1 am, unable to put the book down up until that point, I found myself crying real whole-hearted tears. It was like so many emotions got stirred up, I no longer knew if I was happy or sad or what. It's really amazing how masterfully Chris Fuhrman was able to vocalize everything I've ever experienced growing up. I live in California and I've never even been to a church, let alone a Catholic School, and yet Fuhrman's characters transcend all of this and get to me. I know a lot of the other reviewer's have lamented about how much of a loss Chris Fuhrman's death was, and in many ways I am in total agreement, but to quote the man himself, "People like that die young. They have an influence on other people that lasts, but they don't." If you're reading this review, chances are you are probably at least partially interested in reading this book, and my advice is to go with your instinct on this one. I took the chance on the book and I am forever grateful I did.
Rating:
Summary: The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys
Review: I enjoyed this book very much. I've now made it one of my favorites. It was hilarious and tragic all in one. I laughed out loud several times, which I do not do when reading. The language used, in dialog especially, captures the true voice of being Southern. I should know, I'm a life long Southerner. I could feel the desperation of being bored in the South, maybe because I know about it personally. It made me long for junior high school again. It is sad this is and will be Fuhrman's only book. He would have been the next great Southern write, the modern Faulkner. Loved it. Read it. Savor it. Enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys
Review: I have repeatedly read The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys over the past five years. It has been swapped from family member to family member and from friend to friend. The ability the book has to appeal to such a wide audience, and continually gain a person's interest (even after reading it several times before) amazes me. This charming coming of age novel speaks to the experiences and innocent emotions each of us encounters during the akward age of adolescence. Chris Fuhrman captures the true essence of growing up, and tells his story in a way that will captivate each of his readers
Rating:
Summary: A MUST for those who attended Catholic School!!
Review: I literally JUST finished DLOAB...I am floored. As much of a bookworm as I am, there are very few books that can make me laugh out loud, or cry. This one did both. Virgin Suicides + A Prayer for Owen Meany + The Body=Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys. The story was written by the genius Chris Fuhrman, who unfortunately passed before the book was even released. He tells the tale of a gang of friends who are altar boys for their Catholic school/Church. Don't let the name altar boys fool you. These boys are no Saints. Sneaking sacramental wine and Eucharist wafers, causing mayhem wherever they go, is all in a day's work for them. One prank snowballs into THE ultimate prank to cover the first one. I won't tell you what that is. Let me just say that the results had me as floored as I was while watching "Boys Don't Cry." I literally couldn't move. So for any adult that still remembers the kid that created him or her, do yourself a favor and get this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A promising draft more than a polished novel
Review: I'm going against the grain here, but this compares to previously unreleased demo tapes made by a musician that see the light of day only after the artist's demise or need for income. Since Fuhrman and I are only a year apart in age, I thought this'd be an intriguing read for its take on being thirteen or so, 1974. It was that, but the hasty nature of the ending, the less-than-satisfying, melodramatic climax with the animals, and the underdeveloped comic-book context within which the story starts and finishes (not to mention the misleading cover art) left me with an appreciation for a work in progress.
The best sections by far were the episodes with Craig and the later racial protest--here, you felt as if you were surrounded, bike in hand, facing the adult world for the first time in all of its unruly, unstereotyped, and unclear messiness. The night spent with Margie, the scenes of familial dispute, and the boredom of classroom life all gain their own sharp moments, but the characters of his Mama and siblings needed more development. He sets up Mama, for example, in a larger context of friends she shares on the phone and seemingly keeps apart from her husband, linked to a college class she takes, but this and her life outside the home is left scattered. Perhaps this reflects only what the narrator's limited vision is at the time, but this p-o-v itself becomes contradicted by the last pages of the book.
Surprisingly, little period detail specifically from 1974 exists here. Characters like the priests and nuns flit in and out but do not stick--I imagine that this was changed in the film. Fuhrman's narrator at best strives for a Holden Caulfield type of wisdom, and he and his cronies possess an admirable range of artistic references, given their dialogue, but the artistic side that represents rebellion and escape, like the novel itself, needed much more work that the author's early death prevented.
On the other hand, the film (which I have not seen) inspired my twelve-year-old son to read the novel, and now he's asking me to find him William Blake's "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell"! From Amazon's links, I see we're not the only readers with this tie-in. So, postmortem congratulations to Fuhrman's example for today's adolescents. Although not a "young-adult" novel, it'd be appropriate for a discerning young person and ideal to set up a reading of, say, "Catcher in the Rye."
Rating:
Summary: Our leader
Review: My friend gave me this book because she had a delightful time reading it. I thought the front cover was weird, but continued starting the first period, and fell in love with it. Francis is stuck with a girls name and finds himself eyeing a girl Margie at church. The coming of age novel shows Francis and his gangy group and how they survive through a lot of their firsts through adolescent times. They grew up in a Catholic school Margie has previous thoughts on sucide especially because some things that happened between her and her brother. I thought Margie was a bit weird, but I'm glad she got Francis to help her out with her problems. Other problems are faced through this book from family problems, fighting in the house, racism, sex, drugs, and death. The book is set for anyone of any age really, but I'm not a sucker for coming to age tales. I find my personality and life a whole lot different (basically on a different side) as these boys. However, I did like this book better then Perks of Being a Wallflower and a couple other books that are in the same category. Pick the book up if you can, don't be fooled by the title or cover. I plan to see if the movie is in stock, because it might be interesting to get caught up in the movie. The book will make you laugh, even though there are many sad parts, especially at the end.
Rating:
Summary: A great, honest novel
Review: Now that "Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?" is no longer in print and a hard book to find used, "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys" has taken its place. To anyone who went to catholic school as a child, you will love every page of this book. If you didn't go to catholic school, well, you should still read it for you'll be able to all the jokes and still see the humor that the author pokes at the school system and how the boys manage to do things their way. Simply an excellent read.
Rating: 
Summary: A rushed novel of maturation
Review: The dangerous lives of altar boys is a novel that flirts with depth, but ends up falling short. Fuhrman
Begins to really develop some strong underlying themes for this novel near the beginning of the story, but he never really follows through with many of them. An example would be the race conflicts that occur throughout the novel; at one point they blacks and whites begin fighting in a mud pit and everyone's skin color disappears, yet they still keep fighting. Later on in the novel these race tensions come to a hype with a racial protest...but from there they idea is juts left hanging, there is no symbolic closing to the matter, it just seemed as if Fuhrman through it in there simply because the story was set in the south in 1974. Also there is this tone that Francis has these underlying problems that make him act out and such, but other than a drunk father the problem is not dug into much; I do not enjoy the comparisons to Holden because Francis completely lacks the depth that Holden had. The idea of god is brought up many times, but no resolution really comes. Also the climax and ending of the book leave something to be desired; when the youths begin to hatch their plan I personally thought the ending might be ... and it turned out to be. That is normally fine, but as you're reading the book you should not hope the ending that you have predicted is going to happen because it is kinda cheesy. Also the book closes out with a strange chapter describing the main characters life for the next 10 years or so after the other events of the story, it just seems out of place and unnecessary, the conclusions drawn in it take away from the mystery of what could have happened to Francis and give you a very abbreviated, cookie cutter closing.
Now the book is not all bad, the story aside from the animal sections is very good and Fuhrman does a wonderful job of describing a youth first sexual experience. The comments about the catholic religion are also very humorous.
As a whole this book is OK, it is an average story describing the growing up process, but the main character is not fully developed to maturity. I personally would suggest Douglas Coupland's Microserfs if you are looking for a story with multiple levels that is a better maturation story
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