Customer Reviews

The Boys of My Youth

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This book is so moving, so painfully touching. I read it over a weekend and could hardly put it down. As I read it, I kept on thinking of friends that I wanted to lend it to afterwards, but the more I read, the more I thought, This book's not leaving my sight; I'll tell my friends they have to buy their OWN copies. Jo Ann Beard is so poetic; she doesn't so much tell stories as offer brilliant vignettes of critical times in her life. She talks to the reader like he or she's a second self; she makes herself extremely vulnerable in this book. Her memories of childhood are so acute and observed so perfectly through a child's eyes--like being at an open-casket funeral and only being able to see the nose and glasses of the deceased from where she sits. I nearly caused a scene on the bus reading the "Dirty Barbies" story, because I was laughing so loud. Being a male, I have never been given so much insight into what it's like to grow up female as I was given in this book. It's a brilliant collection of stories--evocative, faithful in the tiniest but most telling of details. I couldn't stop thinking about it when I had finished it. It's a wonder.

Like a flashback, Jo Ann Beard's collection of short stories takes you back in time. My favorite story is "Cousins" and is about two best-friend cousins. At an outdoor Eric Clapton concert the girls ingest a mild hallucinogen and discover pieces of their childhood in the quilt spread on the ground. One girl feels her halter top is coming off. When she looks at her cousin she is "cupping clouds." Moments later her cousin says, "The clouds are cupping me now," and she wants someone to "Get them off." Beard writes, "A guy on the blanket next to us tries to hand me a joint. I can't take it because I'm holding my chest. He looks at me, looks at Wendell balled up on the ground, and nods knowingly. 'Bummer,' he proclaims."

With an exquisite eye for detail and lots of humor, Jo Ann Beard inspires memories of laughter and friendship and the heartache of youth that is never matched in later life. Upon completion of this book, you will find yourself thanking Jo Ann Beard for taking you back to that magical place in time. "The Boys of My Youth" is worth reading and re-reading and sharing with your best friends.

Not only do I agree with all of the other positive reviews as to Beard's uncanny ability to put us in her present, I have to say that Jo Ann Beard's use of language is some of the best I have ever read. As a writer, I am envious of her ability to be so clear, concise and poignant. I was amazed by this book on many levels. The underlined, highlighted, exclamation-pointed copy I will keep attests to that!

I bought Ms. Beard's The Boys of My Youth, her collection of fictionalized essays, and finished it in short order. It was a delight. Then I went back and read parts of it again. Then I tried another "quirky" writer a friend had recommended, but soon found myself rereading ALL of The Boys of My Youth. So there you have it. I love this writer. I think "Fourth State of Matter" is just about the most perfect piece of writing. Ever. So whenever you're ready, Jo Ann, we're out here, like one of your faithful dogs, waiting so hard.

The essays in this book are amazing--they are funny, laugh out loud funny--and also make you cry in a deep and heartfelt way. Beard is so honest, that I really related to her, and her style of writing almost mimicks the thought process--it flits back and forth in time and we see and feel every thought. Cousins and the Fourth State of Matter are the best essays in this collection. Not every essay is right on, but enough are to make this worth the purchase. I definitely look forward to Beard's future publications.

And I never re-read books. It's one of my favorites in AT LEAST the last decade. I picked it for my book group and it was voted the favorite of last year.
At first I didn't even know this was non-fiction--it's so lyrically written.
I just felt extremely connected to the narrator (JoAnn--I guess) and had so many similar experiences from MY youth.
It's a great book to buy for your oldest girlfriend or closest sister.

This is a terrific book! I read it right after it was published and have recently read it again enjoying it even more the second time. It appears very obvious that the previous glut of "one star" ratings are actually the work of one single individual posing as many. Notice that the reviews are basically the same and they are all from "a reader in..." (fill in the blank), usually from somewhere in New York. Too, they were all written within days and weeks of each other. Certainly, a person is entitled to his/her opinion but to pull a stunt like that shows a sick immaturity and apparent jealousy. It makes me both mad and sad to see this. I want to say, "Grow up already, okay!?"

I thoroughly enjoy the writing of Jo Ann Beard and cannot wait for more from her. Keep up the great work!

Jo Ann Beard's collection of autobiographical essays, The Boys of My Youth, is a look at real life events, some seemingly minor and others monumental, that teaches the reader to look back and remember the things that have shaped your life. She writes in a way that, no matter what the situation-tragic, silly, or otherwise-one can relate to what she's talking about. Whether the reader has been through the same thing or not, Beard brings the reader into the moment and makes him or her understand Beard's feelings. Her writing is honest and witty. I found myself laughing outloud and calling friends to read to them a specific section of an essay and end up reading the whole thing and sometimes others. Beard's essays range from devasting experiences to light-hearted memories of her youth, young adulthood, and beyond. Her voice and description bring not only humor and honesty to her essays, but also a vivid image of each scene that she is talking about. Beard's style of sectional writing and tying different scenes together at the end is so effective that as a reader, I never wanted to put the book down. Jo Ann Beard's book shows that every experience, no matter how small or large, can have an immense impact on the rest of your life.

If you graduated high school in the late 70s, early 80s and were a little on the wild side..... this book has some wonderful memories in store for you. It's when painters pants were big, long hair meant everything and riding in cars with girlfriends was so IT. JoAnn Beard tells it like it was better than any author I've read, even down to sneaking out of the house though we knew better.

Put on an old Van Morrison CD, and relive some wonderful memories while reading great book!

Jo Ann Beard's Boys of My Youth is a wonderful journey through the author's turbulent and hilarious childhood- it slows down occasionally, but the presentation is so fresh and witty that it's easy to overlook the minor weaknesses. The true gem of the book is "The Fourth State of Matter", a New Yorker essay about the murders of her colleagues in the Iowa Department of Physics in 1991. All in all, a great summer read, and an author to look out for.