Customer Reviews

The Best Little Boy in the World Grows Up

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Having just finished this delightful book, I decided to post a review. As I read over the comments about this book, I was taken aback by the harshness and negativity of so many of the reviews and the intensely personal nature of the comments, many of which appear to spring from jealousy of Tobias' financial success, and have nothing to do with the intrinsic merits of his book. They constitute what I would call an ad hominem attack on its author. The man's work is fair game, but please refrain from attacking him personally.

As a reader who found "The Best Little Boy in the World" to be a seminal (no pun intended!) work in his own coming out process, I was quite looking forward to the sequel. I wanted to find out how The Best Little Boy had fared during the twenty-five years since the book was first published. Also, since learning a few years ago that "John Reid" was a nom de plume for Andrew Tobias, whose financial books I had enjoyed, I wanted to see how he had integrated his two personas. And I must say, he has done so quite nicely!

This book is a wonderful read. Andrew Tobias has written an entertaining narrative that is well worth anyone's time. I read the book in one weekend, and found myself breaking out in laughter time and time again - his anecdotes resonate with me.

In fact, I enjoyed this book so much that I went out and bought "My Vast Fortune", Tobias' account of his various business ventures and misadventures, and found it delightful and informative as well. It includes the author's tragicomic accounts of locking horns with Ralph Nader over no-fault auto insurance and launching an anti-smoking campaign in Russia. (I'll write a review of that book next!)

Personally, far from begrudging his success, I wish Andrew Tobias the best in all his endeavors. He's a gay man who's making a positive contribution to American society, in a way that reflects well on all of us. I am very proud of the role he is playing as Treasurer of the Democratic National Committee. I only wish I had some money to contribute!

I enjoyed TBLBITW immensely, but it appears the Little Boy's head grew at a greater rate than his body. I got tired of reading this book after I saw Arianna Huffington's name mentioned for the fifth time. OK, Mr. Tobias you know famous people; get over yourself and write something interesting. If there is to be a third book I would like the title to be "The Best Little Boy In The World Comes Down To Earth". Perhaps Ed Koch and Rudi Giuliani could both parachute in to his pool party at the release!
And so it goes on.... "My Vast Fortune"... it would be funny if we thought it would be in the least bit self-deprecating. But alas head-swell is apparently still untreatable.

Like millions of other gay males, I read Tobias' first memoir, TBLBITW, 20 years ago during a personal crisis in my life (coming to terms with my sexuality). It was a watershed moment in my life, and the book helped me to deal with my feelings towards my sexuality. I discovered his second memoir (TBLBITW Grows Up) recently during another personal crisis (midlife crisis). Like the first book, I couldn't put the thing down, and in fact read the entire book in the bookstore one afternoon! Tobias' style is very captivating and easy to read. The down-to-earth persona so evident in his first book seemed to be missing in the second. While I sometimes felt as if the author was "name-dropping" as I read this book, it made me laugh and cry as I related to the content of the book. While the second book did not help me deal with my current personal crisis, as the first one did, it never the less was enjoyable to read. Footnote-When I saw in this book that the author had an email adress, I sent a congratulatory note to him, indicating that I enjoyed the second book, and explained that the first one had a profound impact on my life. He replied back something along the lines of "how nice...I was just made Treasurer of the Democratic National Committee, please send your donation to...." That's why I think that TBLBITW may have grown-up, but he hasn't matured. I'd still recommend the book. Especially to gay males still struggling with their identity at midlife

TBLBITW was an epiphany for many young gay males, myself included. But "Grows UP" is more anecdote than revelation, more "and then what happened was," rather than "and then I learned/discovered." That's the bad news. The good news is that Tobias has lost none of his wit or charm, and he is an engaging writer. To the younger gay audience, this volume is likely to be a bit tedious to read through. But to those of us who lived through the times and conditions Tobias so accurately protrays, it is still a revealing look into the gay lifestyle. When TBLBITW ended, the closet was still securely closed. In "Grows Up," Tobias does point out that we ourselves kept it closed, and that the door could be opened.

So now we know! John Reid is really Andrew Tobias! If you loved The Best Little Boy, don't miss a chance to meet the grown man.

I wish I could give this work 5-stars, but I just can't. The book is composed of two kinds of writing. There is the private life of Andrew Tobias, and then there is his public/political activity. I enjoyed reading about his private life; I don't share many of his political views. As an example of what I liked, there was a moving account of how he and his spouse selected their wedding rings. On the other hand, the book actually includes a speech by President Clinton. I didn't expect that.

This book is worth reading if you loved the BLBITW. It's a shame it doesn't focus more on the authors personal relationships and private insights.

WOW !!! What a TREAT to be back with the BLBITW again. I only wish the book would go on and on or there'd be another one, soon. (Do I HAVE to wait ANOTHER 25 years for the next one?)

Andrew Tobias has done one heck of a job! "TBLBITW Grows Up" is like a long lost old friend. Picking up where TBLBITW left off, I was brought up to date, and had the pleasure of reliving some of his experiences (and some of my own) in the 80's and 90's.

As a gay man, it certainly speaks to me, as did the original. His writing style is similar to before, although he's certainly advanced somewhat, as would be expected.

I recommend this book to anyone who would like (or not like) to know more about gay & lesbian (human) rights.

What's perhaps most inspiring, is his new found confidence, clearly evident in his writings and speeches for human rights. He has done a lot of good for humankind, primarily by educating people.

I, personally, found it educational as well, as I had no idea the Clintons had done so much to help gays and lesbians, working toward equal rights.

Thanks Andrew, for helping so many people see that we're all in this together and we're all human!

The last time I wrote a review of TBLBITW here, I received several personal, scathing, emails from the author himself, along with a listing of personal achievements, yada, yada, yawwwwwn, further proving my point -- this author has not grown up, he has not accepted himself, and he is certainly no role model for any gay person coming out. He may be a role model for those in the financial industry, but that is entirely different. This time around, I find no improvements, and it is telling that he still doesn't "like dick" -- does he walk around the house with a shirt saying "Straight Acting"? What perhaps was the only redeeming part of this more tedious, monotonous, trophy chest was the story of Rita Mae Brown and their "double dating," of a sort. We should celebrate Rita's daring book (Rubyfruit Jungle) about the gay world in her own name, and make no mistake - stop this superficial and ridiculously naive applause for a mostly-closeted, ego-centric financial writer so we can get invited to his parties. This insecure author even told me he would have some friends writing some "good" reviews to counter my version - I'm sure they're on the guest list, but that's not why I write reviews.

I've just read this wonderful book and cannot understand how some of the other reviewers here can call Mr. Tobias self-absorbed. I saw him as merely human and in fact found that he was often self-deprecating--and also it is a book about HIM, so what did the other readers here expect him to write about, his mother? Make no mistake, Andrew Tobias is not a saint, and neither is any of us. His writing reflects his very human experience.

Name dropping? Please. Did some of the other reviewers here expect Andrew Tobias to indulge in navel gazing or something? In any case, I found his experiences to be inspiring. His descriptions of how significant others in his life managed later on in life was to me a great way to vicariously learn some of the lessons of life. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. I have in fact read this book before I read TBLBITW because I felt that it would be more relevant to present times.

Having first read "The Best Little Boy in the World", I approached this wanting so much for Tobias to redeem himself. When the first book left off, he was undeniably self absorbed, but I attributed that to immaturity. However, by the end of this book nothing seemed to change. People are still described by appearance, rather than character traits and the values they hold. Because of Tobias' stature in the community I was hoping to get to know someone who others could respect and emulate, but instead the character flaws of the early years seem to remain intact. In a way this is fine because we all have the right to be whoever we choose to be. However, what makes this account so irritating is that Tobias would have us believe that he is somehow a better person because he is active politically and socially.

I have such incredible affection for John Reid's The Best Little Boy in the World; I truly believe that it should be required reading for all junior high school students. As such, I was very excited to read Andrew Tobias' The Best Little Boy in the World Grows Up. I really wanted to love it. However, Mr. Tobias, who by his own admission is not the most dynamic guy in the world, has created a bland shapeless book that recounts his life over the last quarter century. It is void of any great writing or insight and instead reads like a kiss and tell book about people we do not know well (and thus about whom we do not really care). This book never needed to be written; Mr. Tobias should have simply added a forward to his original work letting us know he was doing well after all these years.