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janhutch's review against another edition
4.0
Kelly is lost as only a sports writer (IMHO) - these essays about growing up in Toronto, are beautifully written and cover many topics, including fighting, hockey, books, religion, sharing a room, football, and hair styles. At times funny, then heart- breaking, each story ends beautifully - my favourite ending? “ ...but recognizing that for some people who come to it early and without being forced, life is a long search for the next great book.”
timothyneesam's review against another edition
4.0
Award-winning Canadian sportswriter Cathal Kelly on growing up in 1980s Toronto. By turns funny, poignant and horrifying, Kelly writes about banal things that seem so fundamentally important as a kid, from schoolyard fights to developing musical tastes, delving into Star Wars mythology, Dungeons and Dragons, goth fashion and, yes, sports.
But these stories are set with an alcoholic, mentally ill father, serious childhood illness and friends hell-bent on self-destruction.
Boy Wonders is about the joy of discovering things completely new, but also about stumbling blithely from one life event to another. There's an interesting chapter on the Challenger space shuttle accident, and how memory can be faulty, which is fascinating in a world where people seem to remember things 'clear as day.'
The book moves to the significance of Umberto Eco, George Orwell and finishes with the author in his mid-20s, and an event that helps frame his perspective on life. It's a clear-eyed, seemingly effortless book that resonates for me, who grew up in similar circumstances (minus the mentally ill father). Recommended as a reminder of how everything is new for kids, in some ways so simple and in other ways such a struggle, even though we may not have realized it at the time.
But these stories are set with an alcoholic, mentally ill father, serious childhood illness and friends hell-bent on self-destruction.
Boy Wonders is about the joy of discovering things completely new, but also about stumbling blithely from one life event to another. There's an interesting chapter on the Challenger space shuttle accident, and how memory can be faulty, which is fascinating in a world where people seem to remember things 'clear as day.'
The book moves to the significance of Umberto Eco, George Orwell and finishes with the author in his mid-20s, and an event that helps frame his perspective on life. It's a clear-eyed, seemingly effortless book that resonates for me, who grew up in similar circumstances (minus the mentally ill father). Recommended as a reminder of how everything is new for kids, in some ways so simple and in other ways such a struggle, even though we may not have realized it at the time.