Reviews

The Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard

lalawoman416's review against another edition

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2.0

The personal essays had been done so much better by other authors. It felt, recycled.

bricarn_33's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring slow-paced

3.5

torihoo's review against another edition

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4.0

Lovely prose. A beautiful book to read. Her details and use of present tense place you right in the fabric of her life.

readertay's review against another edition

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dark emotional lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

iancarpenter's review against another edition

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4.0

Really like Beard's writing and these stories (for me they're stories much more than essays) are great. Sweet, fun, recognizable, funny in spots, moving. Beard has an easy flair, a gift with dialogue and an eye for character. Will be reading all she writes.

rothney14's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.0

miss_creant's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

4.25

A lovely collection of essays. I love Jo Ann Beard’s writing style. The essay about her mother was absolutely gorgeous.

nikki_booknook's review against another edition

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3.0

I really enjoyed some of the pieces in this short story collection, like "Behind the Screen" and "The Fourth State of Matter", but others, especially "Coyote" which I couldn't even finish, left me uninterested. It's worth picking up from the library like I did but I wouldn't buy it.

mbdarwin's review against another edition

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5.0

Certainly one of the best writers I've read recently. Both The Fourth State of Matter and The Boys of My Youth were so masterfully written and are now two of my all time favorite essays. I still catch myself thinking about them all of the time. Bulldozing the Baby was also so creatively structured and the point of view was perfect. I could go on. Read this book. It is fantastic.

kmgard's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0