Customer Reviews

The Boy Who Went Away

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This is a touching and beautifully written book about a troubled young man and his family. The author succeeds brilliantly at two very difficult things: 1) he manages to write believably from the point of view of a disturbed teenager, making him both sympathic and--at times--difficult to take; 2) he creates an honest portrait of motherly love, with all its hopes and despairs. It's one of the best characterizations of a mother in modern American fiction, in fact. I highly recommend this book.

Gottlieb writes intimately lletting the reader in all the way. The book goes far deeper than a presentation of various components/people -- it provides a mirror for all who have grown up with a mother who unknowingly abuses the entire family in order to be comfortable with herself -- all under the guise of love. It's a healing experience if you refrain from focusing on the superficial--gottlieb puts the choice in the hands of the reader. The pain is sweet.

The author pulls off two very difficult things with this intriguing and beautifully written novel: 1) he writes from the point of view a disturbed kid, managing somehow to make us both sympathetic toward the young man and appalled by some of the things he does; 2) he gives us one of the most brilliant and detailed portraits of motherly love--blind, crazy, desperate--in modern American fiction. In addition to all this, the book is also quite witty. Highly recommended.

This wonderful coming-of-age book captures with incredible authenticity what it was like to be entering adolescence in the mid-1960's in the midst of a family in turmoil. "The Boy Who Went Away" has the rare quality of being appropriate for both parents and teens to read; it should take its place on shelves alongside Tobias Wolfe's "This Boy's Life" and even J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye."

Elisa Davis

Young Denny has a mentally disabled older brother James, or Fad, his mother is determined to keep Fad at home, but the medical experts seem intent on putting him in a home. Denny tells of the events of the three months that lead up to that decision.

Fad is the centre of his mothers life, and with a rather distant father who is a little too fond of his drink, Denny is often on the sidelines, he devotes his time to keeping detailed records of his family: his father's drinking, his mother's supposed affair with Fad's doctor, and Fad's progress in his lessons with his mother. Listening in on phone calls, opening mail and observations through his telescope are just a few of his methods, and he has the sometime misguided help of his slightly older friend Derwent.

Wickedly funny yet not lacking compassion, Denny's account of the proceedings does not neglect his own sometimes mean behaviour towards his brother or other dubious activities. The Boy Who Went Away is a touching, sad yet entertaining read.

Jefferson Airplane's (recorded 11/66, released early 1967) "Somebody to Love" could easily be the soundtrack to this book.

Denny Graubert, the narrator and young protagonist of this story describes a unique family that would give John and Augusten Burroughs a run for their money. The story is set in a New Jersey suburb during the summer and early fall of 1967, the Sgt. Pepper/Dodge Dart Era. Denny suffers from a myriad of family angst: he has a noncommunicative father, Max who in addition to being marginally there for his family also has a drinking problem; he has a weird mother named Harta who has an extramarital affair with her older son's doctor and a brother who suffers from what sounds like a form of psychosis.

During the Dark Ages in re autism, many erroneously believed it was a mental illness with a psychotic base. That is not true. Autism and psychosis are two separate and unrelated conditions, although there are people who sadly have both. Denny's brother James, called Fad appears to be more on the psychotic side of the ledger than autistic. His behavior and verbalizations and bizarre ideations all appear to fit under the umbrella of psychosis. His doctors are equally nonplussed; Denny, a spy in the making eavesdrops on telephone calls and steams open the mail to get a fix on what is going on in his household.

Harta is odd in her own way. Loud and bombastic and effusive in her speech, she is just as pushy in her home lessons with James. She tries to impress upon him the need for good grooming; she tries to teach him stock answers to standard questions. One can sense the strident tone she uses and her fear escalates as she tells the boy that the doctors might send him away if he does not do well on the tests. State funding for his education also hangs in the balance; in those days resources for people with exceptional needs were very few and far between. She also becomes involved in an extramarital affair with one of James' doctors.

His older friend Derwent introduces him to the fine art of home espionage; when Denny spies on everyone in his household, he draws his readers into a swirling vortex of confusion and unanswered questions. James "Fad's" behavior is diagnosed with every label under the sun, with psychosis being the common denominator. He is infamous for odd comments such as wondering why when he "touches the grass" is like "eating soup in his head." Denny and Derwent spy on him and socially exploit him. They trick him into exposing himself and spray his genitals with Aqua Net; they say things that will provoke him beyond endurance.

The book is written in a flowery, poetic way that is almost lyrical at times. Readers are carried along the flow of the story by the author's use of language and imagery. Denny's resourcefulness in his home espionage efforts will certainly be appreciated by readers and the question of whether or not James will have to be sent to a residential facility is what makes the summer's biggest cliffhanger. Due to his mental illness (and no, autism is NOT a mental illness and James does NOT appear to fit anywhere on the autism spectrum), the question for readers is does James become the boy who went away because of his condition or does he go away for real?

This is well worth the read. The Brothers' Burroughs books "Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's" and "Running with Scissors: A Memoir" are good companion books to this one.

Danny Graubart's father is drinking too much, and his mother is having an affair. Complicating his life is an autistic brother, Fad, whose condition has so deteriorated that he can barely function amid Danny's already dysfunctional family. "The Boy Who Went Away'' offers a poignant look at a watershed summer through the eyes of a confused 14-year-old. Written in a spare, straightforward style, the book is at once heartbreaking and funny -- an impressive work that artfully avoids the cliched trappings of the coming-of-age novel.

Sad, and yet at times almost hilarious, "The Boy who went away" sheds new light on the life of troubled families. Absolutely remarkable. A must read

"The Boy Who Went Away" is a beautifully written coming-of-age novel. The book is told in the voice of a young boy with an older, autistic brother. The family is disfunctional and deeply affected by the disabled child. The mother strives to convince everyone that their family is "perfectly normal". The father deals with the problems by taking to drink. This novel is a touching look at a family trying o survive- as their mother says,"Everyone has something to deal with." The book is somewhat reminiscent of "Catcher in the Rye" as the insightful young narrator shares his insights into the world of adulthood. A very well-written and touching book.

This book is amazing my daughter is autistic I love her dearly I would never let anything bad happen to her . She means the world to me.