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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Subject, Poor Writing, August 3, 2008
This review is from: A Boy Named Shel: The Life and Times of Shel Silverstein (Hardcover)
"A Boy Named Shel" is really a mixed bag. On one hand, it is an incredibly interesting read, due entirely to its subject matter - Shel Silverstein was a fascinating individual who lived life to the fullest, and his passion for creation and zest for the here-and-now clearly comes through in the telling of his life.
On the other hand, Rogak is a horrible author and biographer. The biography itself is comprised largely of quotes by people who knew him, and in that respect I believe Rogak should only really claim editorial (as opposed to authorial) rights. Her actual writing is poorly organized and even more poorly executed, and would greatly detract from a less luminous subject than Silverstein. It is unfortunate that such a creative and successful person fell prey to such a biographer.
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25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Good Research Does not a Good Book Make, December 10, 2007
This review is from: A Boy Named Shel: The Life and Times of Shel Silverstein (Hardcover)
As soon as I saw the biography of one of my favorite artists on the shelf, I knew I had to take it home with me. Four days after I had the pleasure of starting this book I am relieved to be through with it.
Lisa Rogak's biography is well-researched, that no one can deny. Unfortunately this fact is made very obvious by her constant reliance on quoting her interviews making the book seem more like an magazine article then a full-length biography. Further to the point, after reading less than halfway through the book I began to feel like Ms. Rogak was regurgitating the same descriptive lines (even going as far as using the same syntax) to describe reasoning for different events. Surely, certain personal characteristics stay similar throughout a person's life, but to use the same syntax and employ the same tropes (to give one example: "...nothing in his life could have prepared Shel for the tragedy that would follow..." at least three times, in those very words) is plain lazy on the part of a writer.
Shel Silverstein lived an exciting life, was clearly a complex character, and a beautiful artist. It's too bad my initial thrill at the discovery of this biography quickly dissipated when I realized that its author was simply not up to the task of writing a book to match the complexity of its subject. A good biographer is supposed to make a life seem like an exciting plot, constantly opening up new approaches to its' subject; in this the author failed. Lisa Rogak's "A Boy Named Shel" was more like a chronology interspersed by interview excerpts than a self-containing biography. The only reason I waded through the bad writing was my overwhelming interest in Shel Silverstein and the book's paltry length.
I know there are a couple of other biographies of Shel Silverstein in existence, my hope is that they are better than this one.
Not recommended.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting, but..., May 10, 2009
I tend to agree with the other reviewers here. This book is only half of what it could be. The writing is bad, clumsy and cliche ridden.
However, I read it through in one sitting, found it interesting and bemoaned that it was the only biography of the man so far. It is not overly detailed, but more like surface tension.
With a subject like Shel Silverstein, you could have a book three times as long, with many pictures and photos.
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