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Becoming
 
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Becoming (Paperback)

~ Mark Lichterman (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Price: $24.95 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Do you remember your radio and "Captain Midnight," "The Lone Ranger," "Junior Miss" and "Let's Pretend"? The first time you inhaled a cigarette? Your first swallow of hard liquor? The thrill of the first exploration of the body of your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife... your own body? Your first orgasm? Remember when as a people we loved America, and showed it? Then you might be ready for a nostalgic, funny, romantic, sexually frustrating novel. A novel that may remind many of us of ourselves, "way back then," when God's most mysterious creation was the opposite sex. A novel about life and the often funny, sometimes sad, day-to-day things that stir the memories of our lives. Reminiscent of the Neil Simon trilogy, Philip Roth's "Portnoy's Complaint" and the humorous writing of Jean Shepherd in the mid and late sixties; uniquely original, we are introduced to five-yearold Mitchie in 1939 in an ethnically diverse, lower middle-class neighborhood on the west side of Chicago. As children do, subtly growing over the next sixteen years,seeing World War Two through the eyes of this Jewish child, and later, lying about his age, joining the National Guard, "'cause girls love guys in uniform." Accidentally getting caught up in the Korean war at age fifteen, "Becoming" follows Mitchell's life in a series of nostalgic, comical, romantic, sad and - because "those" situations with girls, and later women, rarely conclude as young men hope - vividly described, extremely funny sexual situations. "Becoming" climaxes hilariously in 1955, in Brighton Beach, New York, when Mitchell is twenty-one and a man. or, because it takes more than age and size to "become" one... the semblance of a man.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 736 pages
  • Publisher: Metropolis Ink (June 15, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0646492160
  • ISBN-13: 978-0646492162
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,920,843 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
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 (5)
4 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great entertainment, September 27, 2008
By Renetta Randy (nashville tn usa) - See all my reviews
Wonderfully well written it paints a life picture at times through eyes of both humor and disappointment. I was reared in the rural south but this work transcends ethnic and geographic boundaries so that we can easily identify with Mitch, especially in his quest to lose his virginity. Mark's wit and great sense of humor comes through in a style that holds ones attention long after putting down his book. You just know this has to be Mark's story and that of those who experienced life with him. This is indeed a book worth reading for the sheer enjoyment of remembering the way we were and those people who made it interesting.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Coming-of-age Novel, June 28, 2008
By J. Magoun (Thousand Oaks, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
As one raised in a Chicago neighborhood around the same time Lichterman grew up in his, I found this coming-of-age novel very reminiscent of my own childhood and adolescence. However, to enjoy this book, one needn't be from Chicago (or Peoria, for that matter), nor a child of the same era. The scenes, characters, experiences, relationships, conversations and events in this book are vividly and brilliantly depicted in a way that will awaken fond, fearful, and passionate memories in the reader fortunate enough to acquire this gem of a book. It is a poignant, humorous and timeless tale that moves along at a satisfying pace.
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5.0 out of 5 stars I lived that!, June 26, 2008
By David Wilkins "st.george" (Newbury Park, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
You just know the author either lived next door or maybe on the next block `cause
that's the way things were growing up in the late 30s, 40s and into the `50s. There was no TV showing "things" or a computer to "Google" what a boy needs to know. It was just day-to-day wonderment and exasperation to face.
The story was so close to my younger years that I started to bet myself that he would add other happenings of my life, and he sometimes did.
O! The fun, anger, bitter joys of your growing years that the author brought back.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic
Fantastic!!! I couldn't put the book down. The author has a way
of making you feel everything his characters are going through. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Bonnie L. Northcott

4.0 out of 5 stars Becoming -- the view from the male side
I realize that most people will enjoy the setting of the book, and that it will bring back memories, but this is actually a timeless subject. Read more
Published 17 months ago by D. V. Cunningham

5.0 out of 5 stars Beoming
Loved the book. It brought me back to an earlier
time and I loved being there as "a fly on the wall." I found it easy to empathize with Mitchell. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Joyce Black

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