Customer Reviews

The Great Brain is Back (Great Brain, Book 8)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First, I loved the Great Brain series. My 11 year old son just got done reading the first seven. We agree that the first was the weakest, and the rest were amazing. His favorite is Me and My Little Brain, while mine is The Great Brain at the Academy.

I read the books in the 70's. I looked on Amazon.com for the books for my son and found this one. I bought, read it, and loved it. It was like meeting a best friend that you haven't seen for years, and starting right where you left off.

With that said, this book is not as good as the rest. It's a bit like saying Eric Clapton is not as good as Jimi Hendrix. Clapton is still better than 99.9% of the rest of the guitarist. And that's how you should look at this book. It's not quite as good as the original seven, but it's still great.

If you're thinking of buying this, read the rest of the series first. Then buy this one and enjoy it. If you read the series when you where young, then buy this book. You will love it.

John Dennis Fitzgerald intended to chronicle his youth in Utah for adults, not children. His publisher thought otherwise and the result are these gems. I don't even call them children's lit gems because I find them just as enjoyable as an adult. Before I go on, you should know that Fitzgerald wrote one book about his youth that is for adults, called "Papa Married a Mormon". It is one of the most amazing books on the American west that I have ever read. Sadly, it is out of print, and you may, like me, have to pay an exorbitant sum to get a copy. Trust me, save up and do it. Now back to this book. Every single Great Brain book in the series is pure gold, and the entire set can be had cheaply, so I say buy them all at once. I "put my money where my mouth is" as Tom the Great Brain would say, and bought the lot.

It is great. I have recently started the Great Brain books and finished them all very fast. I coundn't stop reading them. You should read The Great Brain is Back and all of the other Great Brain books too!!!!!

I would only give this 2.5 stars out of 5. As someone who grew up with the Great Brain series in the '70s I was quite pleased to hear about this "lost" book surfacing a few years ago. These were my favorite books when I was a kid and I kept them for many years afterwards. Imagine my disappointment when I read the introduction by the "editor." If one were to believe what she writes here, she is the one who should be commended for the "Great Brain" series, not Fitzgerald.

Oh, please.

Her insulting forward aside, readers should know that this book was assembled (after his death) from Fitzgerald's notes and we will never know for sure if he intended for it to be published or not. It's a fair book, but it doesn't have nearly the spark of the original works, all of which I would highly recommend over this, any day of the week.

I am now 33 years old and still love the Great Brain series. I read them as a child and bought the paperback set then. I still have it.......covers off, torn pages and raggedy books overall, but I still love them. The Great Brain series is great for kids..........it teaches them a lot about what life was like back then with no t.v or computers. It is also a great series for adults. Takes you back to a childhood like the Wonder Years series. You will love it. Makes a great gift. The person you gift it to will love you for it!!

I think THE GREAT BRAIN WAS A GREAT BOOK. I thought the book was a great book to read. I like the part when Tom was helping Andy on his pegleg. At the end, Tom turned out to be a very good kid. I couldn't see how Tom had the guts to do the things to Mr.Standish. Whoever reads my book review, I encourage you to check it out and read it. It is a very good book for kids and adults. It's very entertaining and cheerful. The sad part was when Abie died of malnutrition. But even though he died of malnutrition, that's nothing to keep you from reading THE GREAT BRAIN.It's a great book.

My first introduction to this wonderful "young readers" series was in elementary school. Our class had a weekly period where the teacher read to us. It so happened that the Great Brain was one of those books. I was immediately hooked.
I had the other 7 books since my teenage years, but I had no idea that an 8th posthumous book had been released.
I finally had the chance to purchase it, and I must say that it was a very nostalgic experience to read new tales of these familiar character.
I highly recommend fans of the series to get this book to complete the collection. New readers should start with the 1st book, "The Great Brain".

Honestly, I liked the original last book better than this posthumously published one, but I'm not going to complain about another book being added to the series. In this book T.D. catches some criminals and pulls a few minor swindle's, but the final conclusion of the series seems to be that swindling doesn't pay. The very last chapter is called "The Swindler gets Swindled," and Tom tries to pull a swindle and it backfires completely and he ends up losing some money. On that note the series ends, the author's point being made. Lots of humor along the way, as well as fascinating adventures in the old west. Definitely a series I'll be re-reading again in the future.

Overall grade: A-

I've read all the great brain, and this is my least favorite. It is written by someone else after the author died, and it's obvious. It is entertaining, but does not qualify as a great brain book to me.

The Great Brain was a great story in my opinion.Tom wasn't a good smart person,but he really was a scheming smart person.The book was a little funny too.The part I really liked was when Tom played a good one on his teacher for paddling him.The part I didn't like was when J.D tried to help Andy kill himself,but overall it was a great book.