Boy's Life [Audiobook, Abridged] [Audio Cassette]

Robert R. McCammon (Author), Richard Thomas (Narrator)

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (January 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671760149
• ISBN-13: 978-0671760144
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (327 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,357,477 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert McCammon is the New York Times bestselling author of fifteen novels, including the award-winning Boy's Life and Speaks the Nightbird. There are more than four million copies of his books in print. His latest novel, MISTER SLAUGHTER, is the third book in the Matthew Corbett series. It is available now from Subterranean Press. Look for THE FIVE in Spring 2011!

Visit his websites: www.robertmccammon.com and www.matthewcorbettsworld.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

149 of 151 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awe-inspiring, May 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Boy's Life (Mass Market Paperback)

Sometimes I get to thinking that my mental list of the "Top 5 Books I've Ever Read" is going to remain cast in stone until the day I draw my terminal breath. Then, out of the blue, an accidental discovery like "A Boy's Life" will come along and prove that, while I may consider myself well-read, there's still way too much opportunity for bona fide treasures to remain hidden.

I try not to use too may superlatives when writing a review - they tend to distract the reader and perhaps even cause them to question your objectivity. But this time I just can't bring myself to care, such is my admiration of the book I read just a few short weeks ago. Put simply, this work is a masterpiece, and it's only when you encounter something as rich as this that you realise how often that word is applied to inferior goods.

One line plot summary - "'A Boy's Life' details the adventures of a twelve year old boy growing up in a small town, being essentially a series of vignettes backed by a tale of an unsolved murder." None of which, of course, would tempt you to read the thing were I not to say this:

McCammon has always been a competent writer, but neither before nor since has he approached the heights he attains here. God knows other writers have come close to capturing the simple magic of boyhood (King's "The Body" makes a fine case study), but McCammon leaves them all in his wake. There really is magic in this book, I swear it - the pleasures and pitfalls of early friendships, the thrill of summer break, the bicycle as a near-mythical icon, the joys of childish things and the call of the future - it's like putting on a pair of magic lenses and seeing things as we saw them before the cares of the world came to spirit us away.

I could go on at length, writing about the richly drawn characters, the way McCammon steers a course between humour and tragedy with an unwavering hand, the astonishing writing-style, the way large issues are melded to small events ... but I won't. I will, however, say this:

This book is a wondrous thing, a gift to be cherished, and I cannot believe that anyone who was ever young will ever quite shake away the faerie dust which settles during its reading. It's that powerful.

Or, to paraphrase Jon Landau - at a time in my life when I desperately needed to feel young again, "A Boy's Life" took me back, if only for the briefest of times. And that, friends, is something money can't buy.

56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teaching Life's Lessons: a Teacher's Dream, December 15, 1999

By 

Mark H. Kelly - See all my reviews

This review is from: Boy's Life (Mass Market Paperback)

I have taught Boy's Life to eighth graders for seven years now. It is their summer reading book, partly because of its length, partly because of its advenure, and partly because its themes tie together the other books we read the rest of the year. For the 200 students or so who have read it, Boy's Life has been the best book they ever read. It becomes important to students because they can relate to the characters and what they encounter. As one student said, "The book teaches us lessons about life." By covering such themes as racism, alcoholism, bullies, friendship, death, writing, courage, and doing the right thing, each class has been able to talk openly about these issues and how they relate to them. I was visited by two former students a short time ago. As they chatted with me, one of them spotted my copy of Boy's Life on my bookshelf. She went over to it, took it down, and said, "Do you know how many times I've read this now? About four or five." Without missing a beat the other girl said, "Mine is kept together with duct tape." It is rare to find a book that kids cherish and return to again and again. Many times it has been the book that has influenced non-readers to want to read. It is a teacher's dream.

49 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this book!, July 12, 2004

By 

R.Parklane (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Boy's Life (Mass Market Paperback)

Once in a while you find a rare book which stays in your mind long after your finished it. Boy's Life is just that. The story is simply beautiful and still captures my heart and imagination after reading it the second time, 10 years later. McCammon is famous for his horrors. But in Boy's Life, Mc Cammon has written a brilliant story filled with sensitivity, humanity and emotional depth. It is about a 11 year old boy coming of age. Narrated in the endearing young boy's, Cory's, voice, Boy's Life captures what is meant to be a child once, when the world is still magical and filled with wonders, when a bicycle is a boy's steed, friendship is permanent, a dog is one's best friend and even "flying" is possible. And Boy's Life has its moments of poignancy when Cory has to deal with his best friends' death, evil when and where he least expects and bigotry in his young world. Boy's Life just tugs at my heart as it glows with warmth and comfort when parental love overcome the fears of growing up and always there to rely on in a child's life. Boy's Life is truly a treasure and I promise myself to read this gem again in another 5-10 years time.