Helpful Score: 4
Boys Life is a wonderful book--it captures the magic of being a child in a world of possibilities and promises. It will make you laugh and make you cry. About an 11 yr old boy from Zephyr Alabama..where monsters swim in the belly of the river, and friends are forever.
Helpful Score: 4
This is one of my favorite books. I almost regret mailing it off to another PBS member. I wanted to keep it and read it again. The first time I bought the book was at a huge used bookstore here in South Florida. Great Place. Thousands and thousands of books. Went out of business:-((. Anyway, I brought this book up to the check-out counter, and the clerk told me this was one of the best books he had ever read, and as you can imagine, he has read many books. He told me, he had been so impressed that he had found and purchased a first edition signed copy. Even without this endorsement I would have enjoyed this book. It's magical in that way that only a child's life can be magical.
Helpful Score: 2
This is by far the best of Robert McCammon. Monsters, murder, Nazis, everything that you could want or expect from a brillant thriller writer. This has been my favorite book for about 20 years! I have re-read it again and again and now need a new copy! Recommend this to anyone who is looking for a "different" thriller!
Helpful Score: 2
Really really enjoyed this book. Nice story about young boy growing up and facing issues that arise throughout the story. Had small town murder mystery beneath it but also spoke about other hardships and enjoyments which can happen in a young boys life. It is written and told through the eyes of the young boy and captures his feelings about his parents, neighbors, friends, schoolmates, bullies and others that interact in his life. This was a nice sometimes well written book and I would definately recommend it.
Helpful Score: 2
This was the first book I read by McCammon, I was quickly enthralled in it and could not put it down. The magical town that this takes place in almost reminds me of "Big Fish" and "The Sandlot" at the same time. On my list of favorites of all time.
Helpful Score: 1
My all time favorite book. I have read it three times in the last 15 years. It takes me back to my southern roots and a simpler time. McCammon's slightly autobiographical first step away from horror but with macabre elements. A thriller that makes you laugh and cry!
A great read. McCammon is at his best. He knows how to grab the reader and make you look at the world through the eyes of a 12 year old boy.
Helpful Score: 1
Loved this book, read it all in one day ..could not put it down
Helpful Score: 1
Boy's Life,
Mr. McCammons prose flow like sweet melted butter. Robert McCammons writing is top notch, head and shoulders above the rest. This is perhaps the best coming of age story I have ever read.
A murder in the small southern town of Zephyr is merely the canvas used to paint a much larger tale of a boy's life. The character's we engage along the way are sweet, innocent, mean, burly, soulless and soulful. All the colors of emotion wrapped into an elegant tale. This is an exciting and very moving novel. I laughed as well as cringed at the antics of all the people I had the pleasure to meet. I also felt the warmth and sadness of the love and loss that was encountered along the way.
To say this is simply a coming of age story would be like calling the Golden gate bridge "Just a bridge" This book is a true master piece, written by a master, a timeless classic, one that I shall always treasure.
Mr. McCammons prose flow like sweet melted butter. Robert McCammons writing is top notch, head and shoulders above the rest. This is perhaps the best coming of age story I have ever read.
A murder in the small southern town of Zephyr is merely the canvas used to paint a much larger tale of a boy's life. The character's we engage along the way are sweet, innocent, mean, burly, soulless and soulful. All the colors of emotion wrapped into an elegant tale. This is an exciting and very moving novel. I laughed as well as cringed at the antics of all the people I had the pleasure to meet. I also felt the warmth and sadness of the love and loss that was encountered along the way.
To say this is simply a coming of age story would be like calling the Golden gate bridge "Just a bridge" This book is a true master piece, written by a master, a timeless classic, one that I shall always treasure.
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book. It was such an interesting, fantastical look at life in a small town. My husband, who doesn't like the same books I do, also loved this book. It's well written, has great story lines and characters, and takes the reader on a definite roller coaster of thoughts and emotions.
Helpful Score: 1
Wow. Very talented writer. I became engrossed in this story. Each chapter tapped into a new emotion; excitment, humor, sadness, suspense and fear with each turning page. Also, a very exciting ending to great story.
Helpful Score: 1
A celebratory tale with lots of childhood mystery, marvel, and magic. It will take you back in time to the innocent life of your youth.
Helpful Score: 1
This is an interesting story of a boy growing up in a small Alabama town. It is a bit of a murder mystery also. I thought this was VERY interesting, and was up late many nights reading this!!
Helpful Score: 1
This is a delightful book about a young boy, destined to become a writer, whose real life (and imaginary) adventures are exciting and well written. For anyone who enjoys remembering childhood it is a must.
This is my favorite book of all time! I find myself going back and reading it again every few years - and loving it every time! A boy's coming of age in the South in a small town in the 60's/civil rights era tale with so much more! - ghosts, monsters (some human, some not), a murder mystery, mysticism and voodoo, a Nazi war criminal, the value and love of friends and family, meanness and corruption, change vs. progress, real courage - with quite a bit of wisdom thrown in between. Wonderfully and beautifully written - truly McCammon's masterpiece.
This was a really sweet story about a boy and the things that happen to him and his small town. The town is full of great characters. Tragedies occur and we see how these people pull together as a community. Others might say it reminds them of "Stand by Me" but, I think that may be because of the time period (the 50's). This was a great read--highly recommend it.
I've read most of McCammon's books. This was one of his better works. I enjoyed travelling back to the 60's. This was semi-fantasy, semi-thriller and a very interesting read.
A classic! Every chapter is a life learning lesson! This is a book that should be on a schools books to read over the summer! WOW
This is one of my favorite books....Robert McCammon is the best! It had me laughing out loud at times, besides being scary. A great read!
A tense but touching journey into a boy's heart as he struggles with forces bigger than he is.
I absolutely adore this book. This is a perfect example of why I love my book club! I'd never heard of this book or author and I would have totally missed out on it if not for their suggestions! The vocabulary and imagery in the book was fantastic. I could picture everything vividly. The story itself was beautiful. I really liked the average small town stories with a little magic/paranormal thrown in. I found it to be a fairly easy, fast read for how long it is. I was drawn in from the first page. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves to read and appreciates a well told story and for anyone who likes a little paranormal twist.
A young boy confronting the less-appealing aspects of life in his small town. A good read.
I didn't want this book to end. As it's written on the first page: "...Boy's Life is a wonderful story of powerful emotions, marvelous images and inventive narrative...filled with enough adventure, joy, discovery and heartache for a dozen boys' lifetimes". This book is filled with fascinating characters, contains a murder mystery, and has plenty of wisdom.
This book isn't what I expected from McCammon the horror writer. Amid the story of small-town life there's the magic of a kid's imagination, the awful mystery of the murdered man in Saxon Lake, the Civil Rights movement, friendships, learning real grief, the stirrings of a first crush...it's got so much sentiment and nostalgia in it. The mystery is the thread that binds all the bits together, but the book is about a lot more than that. Nods to Ray Bradbury and Stephen King, probably others I didn't catch. Very enjoyable, very memorable.
Despite the fact that this was on the reading list for my college english class, I really enjoyed this book.
This is my entire family's favourite novel. It ties with The Prince Of Tides. We keep extra copies on hand for any sad souls who've missed out. Honestly, my sister's and I should be getting royalties. Robert McCammon is a master storyteller and an imaginative beast and I could kiss him square on the lips for creating this gorgeous, glittering, perfect book.
Zephyr, Alabama has been an idyllic home for eleven year old Cory Mackenson...a place where monsters swim in the belly of the river, and friends are forever. Then, on a cold spring morn in 1964, as Cory accompanies his father on his milk route, they see a car plunge into a lake somey say is bottomless. A desperate rescue attempt brings Cory's father face to face with a vision that will haunt him: a murdered man, naked and beaten, handcuffed to the steering wheel, a noose around his neck. As Cory struggles to understand the forces of good and evil at work in his hometown, from an ancient woman called the Lady who conjures snakes and hears the voices of the dead, to a violent clan of moonshiners, he realizes that not only his life but his father's sanity may hang in the balance...
Good read!!!
Good read!!!
Great mystery wrapped in the story of a year in a boy's life.
Excellent!
this book is set back when you had your milk delivered right to your door. It was a great read. Lots of depth.
In 1964, 12-year-old Cory Mackenson lives with his parents in Zephyr, Alabama. It is a sleepy, comfortable town. Cory is helping with his father's milk route one morning when a car plunges into the lake before their eyes. His father dives in after the car and finds a dead man handcuffed to the steering wheel. Their world no longer seems so innocent: a vicious killer hides among apparently friendly neighbors. Other, equally unsettling transmogrifications occur: a friend's father becomes a shambling bully under the influence of moonshine, decent men metamorphose into Klan bigots, "responsible" adults flee when faced with danger for the first time. With the aid of unexpected allies, Cory faces hair-raising dangers as he seeks to find the secret of the dead man in the lake. McCammon writes an exciting adventure story. He also gives us an affecting tale of a young man growing out of childhood in a troubled place and time. Recommended.
Read this awhile ago A great story!
This is a great read from beginning to end. Although it's a story about a boy, it's a story for adults to read, male or female. It's packed full of adventure, mystery and surprise, and I couldn't put it down.
In 1964, 12-year-old Cory Mackenson lives with his parents in Zephyr, Alabama. It is a sleepy, comfortable town. Cory is helping with his father's milk route one morning when a car plunges into the lake before their eyes. His father dives in after the car and finds a dead man handcuffed to the steering wheel. Their world no longer seems so innocent: a vicious killer hides among apparently friendly neighbors. Other, equally unsettling transmogrifications occur: a friend's father becomes a shambling bully under the influence of moonshine, decent men metamorphose into Klan bigots, "responsible" adults flee when faced with danger for the first time. With the aid of unexpected allies, Cory faces hair-raising dangers as he seeks to find the secret of the dead man in the lake. McCammon writes an exciting adventure story. He also gives us an affecting tale of a young man growing out of childhood in a troubled place and time.
I read this book years ago but remember it being right up with Stephen King's coming of age story "Stand by Me". I registered this at bookcrossing.com so I can keep track of its travels so it has bookcrossing labels inside.
