Rating: 
Summary: This book is excellent--
Review: -- I am so impressed with this book. The voice, its creativity, how it sends a message to the reader. ... I will be recommending it! Julia DeVillers, author of GirlWise
Rating: 
Summary: I can't believe I read it through..
Review: A (younger, yet intelligent) acquaintance recommended this book to me, and I have never read a book that I found so poorly written, banal, and callow. I would only recommend it to someone who has honestly never considered the notion that there might be something wrong with consumerism, or who wants to laugh at the naivete of these teenaged characters. Honestly, I found myself wondering if a young person reallly *had* written the thing, considering the jejune style of writing. It says ages 12 and up, but I'd really have to recommend it only for ages 15 and under - that, or I've sorely underestimated young people. Try Daniel Quinn's Ishmael series instead, for a truly insightful, original, and potentially world-shaking philosophical outlook.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book-one of the best
Review: After reading this book, The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashjian, I am struck with a display of theme that is deeper and much more philosophical than any other young adult book I have read. In fact, this novel does not serve you only one theme but it gives you a two-in-one deal displaying a subliminal theme under the obvious root theme of the novel. Josh, a.k.a. Larry, the "code-name" he uses for his website, is the point of the obvious theme of the book. The lesson about human nature that jumps out at you first in the novel is that of Josh's website and "Larry" which helps Josh tell the world about commercialism and how it is taking over America and a few other ideas about cultural insufficiencies. Larry, the figurehead of the operation, launches a wave of lessons to kids across the United States and it catches on as his themes shine into society. Underneath all of the quite apparent themed material, though, is the underlying and perhaps more important theme of the book. This theme that encompasses the true essence of the novel is that of Josh's love for society and thus his extreme obsession with trying to help the world. Josh tells the reader various times throughout his story that all he wants to do is simply aid the world and make it a better place, that is why he created the website and Larry, that is why he faked his death, that is why he has every tried to do anything; to change the world into what Josh thought it should be was his and the novels true theme and gave this book a place in the classics.
Rating:
Summary: pretenious and mind numbing
Review: How could someone take such an awesome spin on the teen wonder boy story and do so terribly?
I mean, the idea isn't half bad. Ridiculously smart but strongly anti-social boy starts website, becomes famous, and the fades into oblivion.But come on! The plot holes in this book are more numerous than
than the abundant footnotes. 1 For one thing, the major conflict in this book is that "Larry's" audience doesn't know he's a boy in High School, but in the few rants the author most proudly displays in the book, he alludes to the facts he is in High School directly. You wouldn't need to analyse tree patterns or his few possetion, it was right in front of them. Besides that gapping plot hole and others, there is the simple fact that Josh, the primary character, is a complete jerk. I found myself rooting for the other side in every situation.
In teen summer reads such as these, the primary purpose for the book is for Teens to identify with the main character, which I could not. None of the book's ill-begotten attempts at critiquing mass media made me feel any type of outrage. The book felt to me like one whiny boy's story of how it's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO hard being a prodigy and having everyone love you. See this? This is the world's smallest violen playing a song for you. Which cease being amusing after the first ten pages
Rating:
Summary: Ick
Review: I am so sick of writers that have no idea what teenagers are like. Teenagers don't talk like this! Teenagers don't THINK like this! But it's not just the teenagers. There's not a realistic character in this whole book.
I know the author means well. Anticonsumerism is something I sympathize highly with. But the book is written in such a watery, preachy way that it's almost unreadable. The whole time I just felt like I was being "appealed" to with an adult's idea of how teenagers supposedly act. The end result just isn't appealing at all. Larry's sermons are banal and unoriginal. I don't see how this could ever happen in real life. There literally millions of anticonsumerist websites out there, and ALL of them are better than Larry's.
TGATL is an unrealistic book targeted at pseudo-subversive teens. Don't bother with it unless you're very, very stupid. If you want a good book for teens about consumerist issues that's actually entertaining, check out "Feed" by M.T. Anderson.
Rating:
Summary: Can you say, "Masterpeice"?
Review: I ate 'TGATL' with a spoon. I literaly skipped out classes to read it. This is a great tale of Josh Swenson, a 17 year old senior struggling with the loss of him mother, teen issues, a crush on his best friend (Beth), and being a prodigy. He was doing equations with magnetic numbers when he was 2 and doing numerical equations on napkins for fun. This child genius lives with his step-dad who, oddly enough, is in the advertising business. Josh, who is very anti-consumerist, wants to express his feelings in secret, so he creates a virtual alter-ego, Larry. He creates a website nad give sermons about a different kind of activism. But when betagold hunts him down...well , I won't tell you the ending. I reccomend this book to anyone. Oh, and for those who seem to believe no teenager thinks that way, you can look to your left, becasue I hear I am. I identify with Josh/Larry because I am very much like him.
2 thumbs up!
--Buggy--
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read!
Review: I believe this book should be required for every student to read. They should not be allowed to graduate with out reading it. It provides such an outlook on life. One of my good friends read it and she said it was "life changing".
Josh is a really cool kid. He has been called weired since third grade when he wore a paper pyramid to see if it could help his thinking. He hated how other people bought Nike clothes and Mountain Dew. He was anticonsumer. The book travels through the life of Josh who tries to "change the world" with his thinking through an alter ego, Larry. I don't want to say more because it would give it away.
All I ask is that you read it, and you will think differently everytime you buy something like a Humpty Dumpty tie when the money could be used to help the Third World countries that really do need it. READ IT READ IT READ IT!!!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: I couldn't put this down. You follow Josh, a high school senior, as he begins assembling a website called The Gospel According to Larry, with "sermons" about pop culture, globalization, consumerism and everything under the sun. Meanwhile, he becomes a world wide sensation as everyone can't get enough of his inspiring posts. The only problem is that he posted it anonymously, and can't let anyone find out his true identity as Larry, not even his best friend, who he also happens to be in love with. I won't tell you how it ends. It's thought provoking, thrilling, new and different from other novels and with a wide range of emotions. I became attached to the characters, and was sad, happy and mad at them and their experiences. This book is a winner. Read it!
Rating:
Summary: Great read!
Review: I heard about this book at a meeting I went to for young adult libarians and went back to my own library and read it right away. Wow! Now if I can only get some of the kids at my school to read it. I can see why some of the readers actually believed it was real. A great book for boys who might have relationship issues like Josh. Now whenever I start to purchase something or read about celebrities I stop and question myself for falling into the trap that Larry warned us against.
Rating: 
Summary: revelation
Review: I picked up this book from the library randomly, hoping to do a book report on it. But now that I've read, I feel like it's much more than that. I am fully aware that it is, indeed, fiction, but I think it aroused plenty of issues that needs to be addressed. Though written for young adults, through a teenager's diction, I believe everyone can gain something from it. I highly recommend it--it may very well change your perspective on life. It's one of the most unique and creative books I've ever encountered. In teen jargon, it's awesome.
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