Boy's Life

Wonderful book, can always pick it up and read it end to end.

I haven’t read this book in 25+ years. But always remembered it. When I was able to find it the prices were absolutely insane so I never bought it. Now I have a copy purchased at a very fair price and look forward to reading it again.

Boy’s Life is absolutely breathtaking. I have just finished reading this incredibly beautiful story and I feel like I have just taken a journey back in time to where life is full of wonder when it is lived through the eyes of a child. Boy’s Life is a year in the life of twelve year old Cory Mackenson. Set in 1964 , in a small town , it follows the up’s and down’s and sometimes horror’s of his life’s experiences.But through it all , he never loses his wonder and love of life. This story made me laugh and cry . It moved me in a way no book has ever moved me before. I absolutely loved it. You will fall in love with the character of Cory Mackenson , his family and his friends. This story will stay in my heart forever. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

I have a friend who reads a lot but had never read McCammon. Imagine that! Since I suggested this great book to him, he’s now like me hooked. Beautiful story by someone who speaks my Southern language. Buy it you won’t be disappointed.

I'm not going to get into a whole thing about the plot of this book, I'm just going to say freakin buy it and read it and I guarantee you will adore it. I like mystery/horror (Stephen King freak here) and I discovered this author after finishing all of Stephen King's books. I found it on a list of books he recommends. I was skeptical and thought I would find it boring, but oh my god this book is full of mystery and suspense and the unknown, creepy and fascinating and thought provoking and oh so questioning, and it's so action-packed Pee-Wee! It's Stand By Me x a million. I loved it so much and it's found it's way to the top of my favorite books list. This is the first book review I have ever written in my 36 paper-book-filled-years, and I had to do it because I bought it on the recommendation of other reviewers and I could not let anyone who reads the reviews here not purchase this book, because if I had not listened and bought it myself my life would be a little drearier. Get it, get it, get it, you will love it!

Once in a while you find a rare book which stays in your mind long after your finished it. Boy's Life is just that. The story is simply beautiful and still captures my heart and imagination after reading it the second time, 10 years later. McCammon is famous for his horrors. But in Boy's Life, Mc Cammon has written a brilliant story filled with sensitivity, humanity and emotional depth. It is about a 11 year old boy coming of age. Narrated in the endearing young boy's, Cory's, voice, Boy's Life captures what is meant to be a child once, when the world is still magical and filled with wonders, when a bicycle is a boy's steed, friendship is permanent, a dog is one's best friend and even "flying" is possible. And Boy's Life has its moments of poignancy when Cory has to deal with his best friends' death, evil when and where he least expects and bigotry in his young world. Boy's Life just tugs at my heart as it glows with warmth and comfort when parental love overcome the fears of growing up and always there to rely on in a child's life. Boy's Life is truly a treasure and I promise myself to read this gem again in another 5-10 years time.

I first read "Boy's Life" when it was first published over 10 years ago. I was still a young'un in college and could really relate to Cory's tale of childhood chills & thrills. I always thought "Boy's Life" was McCammon's best novel. I have often thought of this book and now with a son of my own I wanted to re-read "Boy's Life" and to capture again it's magic of youth and boyhood fantasy. I was worried though, because I began wondering if when I read again, a book that I remember so fondly, would I still view it the same and would it still have the same impact on me? I would have hated to find "Boy's Life" was something I had outgrown, or found the memory of the story and the story itself we completely different. The great news is that "Boy's Life" is still fantastic and is simply one of the greatest coming of age stories available. The magic and mystery of the novel are wonderful, and I found myself caught up once again in the goings on in the town of Zephyr. If you haven't read "Boy's Life" or were hesitant based on it being written by a "horror" writer, give this wonderful novel a chance. It is unlike anything McCammon has written, and most likely, even coming out of his semi-retirement, will remain unlike anything he will write. Also, if you have read this novel and enjoyed it, make sure you pick up Dan Simmons' "Summer of Night". "Summer of Night" is stronger in the horror department, but the feel and flow of the book is very similar to "Boy's Life".

I'm not going to tell you about this novel. Instead, I want you to do the biggest favor you've done for yourself in years... buy this book and read it. When you've turned the last page, go directly to the beginning and start all over again. That is exactly what I did three times. Even though I wasn't a child of the '60s and I've never been to Alabama, the amount of depth and feel Robert McCammon extends to the reader is immense. I have literally read thousands of books, and whenever someone asks the common question of which is my favorite, Boy's Life is always the first to spill out. I want you to ask yourself truthfully if you have ever spent a great deal of time being involved in a novel and when it is finally finished, do you walk away completely satisfied? Has it been years since you have read the novel and you still think of it from time to time? Were some of the scenes in the novel created so real that you could honestly mistake those experiences for one of your own? It has happened to me. It can happen to you. If you have read this book, read it again. Recapture the magic of youth, friendship, and the adventures of life that can never fade, they only grow brighter. And to those of you who are about to experience this novel for the first time, I envy you greatly.

I have taught Boy's Life to eighth graders for seven years now. It is their summer reading book, partly because of its length, partly because of its advenure, and partly because its themes tie together the other books we read the rest of the year. For the 200 students or so who have read it, Boy's Life has been the best book they ever read. It becomes important to students because they can relate to the characters and what they encounter. As one student said, "The book teaches us lessons about life." By covering such themes as racism, alcoholism, bullies, friendship, death, writing, courage, and doing the right thing, each class has been able to talk openly about these issues and how they relate to them. I was visited by two former students a short time ago. As they chatted with me, one of them spotted my copy of Boy's Life on my bookshelf. She went over to it, took it down, and said, "Do you know how many times I've read this now? About four or five." Without missing a beat the other girl said, "Mine is kept together with duct tape." It is rare to find a book that kids cherish and return to again and again. Many times it has been the book that has influenced non-readers to want to read. It is a teacher's dream.

Sometimes I get to thinking that my mental list of the "Top 5 Books I've Ever Read" is going to remain cast in stone until the day I draw my terminal breath. Then, out of the blue, an accidental discovery like "A Boy's Life" will come along and prove that, while I may consider myself well-read, there's still way too much opportunity for bona fide treasures to remain hidden.I try not to use too may superlatives when writing a review - they tend to distract the reader and perhaps even cause them to question your objectivity. But this time I just can't bring myself to care, such is my admiration of the book I read just a few short weeks ago. Put simply, this work is a masterpiece, and it's only when you encounter something as rich as this that you realise how often that word is applied to inferior goods.One line plot summary - "'A Boy's Life' details the adventures of a twelve year old boy growing up in a small town, being essentially a series of vignettes backed by a tale of an unsolved murder." None of which, of course, would tempt you to read the thing were I not to say this:McCammon has always been a competent writer, but neither before nor since has he approached the heights he attains here. God knows other writers have come close to capturing the simple magic of boyhood (King's "The Body" makes a fine case study), but McCammon leaves them all in his wake. There really is magic in this book, I swear it - the pleasures and pitfalls of early friendships, the thrill of summer break, the bicycle as a near-mythical icon, the joys of childish things and the call of the future - it's like putting on a pair of magic lenses and seeing things as we saw them before the cares of the world came to spirit us away.I could go on at length, writing about the richly drawn characters, the way McCammon steers a course between humour and tragedy with an unwavering hand, the astonishing writing-style, the way large issues are melded to small events ... but I won't. I will, however, say this:This book is a wondrous thing, a gift to be cherished, and I cannot believe that anyone who was ever young will ever quite shake away the faerie dust which settles during its reading. It's that powerful.Or, to paraphrase Jon Landau - at a time in my life when I desperately needed to feel young again, "A Boy's Life" took me back, if only for the briefest of times. And that, friends, is something money can't buy.