Boys and Girls Together [Paperback]

William Goldman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1964

paperback, advanced reading copy prior to hardcover publication, 623 pages, novel

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Atheneum (1964)
• ASIN: B001QMVP6Y
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,053,829 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Goldman has been writing books and movies for more than forty years. He has won two Academy Awards (for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President's Men), and three Lifetime Achievement Awards in screenwriting.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'll Never Forget the First Line, October 18, 2005

By 

Jo Singel "author Dandelions of Woodlawn Avenue" (Manhattan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: William Goldman's Boys & Girls Together (Paperback)

Sometime in the 1960's I discovered Boys & Girls Together. I don't recall how I got my first copy. It certainly wasn't handed to me by Sister Immaculata at Archbishop Prendergast high school. Nor did my Italian father suggest that I read it. However the book made its way into my hands and the words found the path to my curious brain - I am eternally grateful. The characters and the stories embedded themselves into my psyche and made me hungrier than ever to explore new worlds beyond the tight borders of home,school and family. I was never the same again. Recently I bought myself a new copy. I hadn't read it in years and wondered if the old magic was still there. I opened the book and read the first line. It was quite an experience. I was transported back "in time" and across many decades when a new door had opened for me. Thank you William Goldman. I was not disappointed.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tripping the Light Fantastic, July 13, 2007

By 

Edward Aycock (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Boys and Girls Together (Paperback)

If Philip Roth, Harold Robbins, Jacqueline Susann, Rona Jaffe and Mary McCarthy all met for dinner and collaborated on a story to pass the time before the main course, (and Edgar Allan Poe rushed in at the end to add to the climax) the result would have been something similar to this novel which is actually from the talented mind of one man: William Goldman. I'm surprised I'd gone so long without ever having heard of this novel, but then I think Goldman's work as a screenwriter and more popular works like "The Princess Bride" have overshadowed this earlier work.

Despite its seemingly unwieldy length and dense word count, "Boys and Girls Together" is an unforgettable reading experience that moves quickly. I thought I'd be with this book for most of the summer, and ended up getting through it in less than two weeks. Goldman is so convincing that every character comes alive. You'll think you'll hate somebody, but then we learn more about them and we see what they're thinking and feeling. The result is a fantastic dissections of mid-twentieth century America.

This isn't to say the book doesn't also get mired in the very mindset it's skewering. The novel is notable in that it features gay characters as protagonists but also assigns their conditions to pop-psychology conventions then popular i.e., smothering mother or fatherless homes. Being published only a year after "The Feminine Mystique" where homosexuality was described as a "murky smog" covering America, the inclusion of gay characters is both progressive and negative. But to be fair, not many of the other characters fare much better, trapped as they are under their own idiosyncracies like ditzy Jenny and clueless Walt.

The book builds to a climax that is inevitable, but the execution is a bit heavy-handed as the finale takes on the aforementioned Poe-like quality. I'll take it though, as by then, I'd been with the characters for nearly 700 pages and I wasn't going to let that mar a great reading experience; you'll never look at a fire escape the same way again.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant book., January 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Boys and Girls Together (Paperback)

This being the first William Goldman book I read, I also believe it to be the best. Never before have read a book that had such detailed, quirky, and unique characters. There is a dedication to each character I've never again seen paralelled that makes the story an experience one could never forget. Search your local libraries and book stores for this book. It's worth it.