A review by alexblackreads
The Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard
4.0
This is a fantastic collection of essays. I adored reading it. Beard's writing style is gorgeous as well as funny.
My favorite part is how she ties two different stories together. There will be the main story that takes up most of the pages of the essay, but then a secondary story that's the more important story. They tie together well and work off each other, and the secondary story becomes somehow more meaningful than it would have if she'd just written the essay about that. I dunno how to describe that well, but it was so well done.
A few of the essays dragged a bit. I didn't connect emotionally with all of them and for a couple I couldn't figure out why it existed. Not sure if I missed the point or if they just weren't as well done, but the majority of the essays were fantastic. The Fourth State of Matter, Out There, and The Boys of my Youth were all standouts.
Highly recommend if you like creative nonfiction. It's a wonderful collection and Beard is a great writer.
My favorite part is how she ties two different stories together. There will be the main story that takes up most of the pages of the essay, but then a secondary story that's the more important story. They tie together well and work off each other, and the secondary story becomes somehow more meaningful than it would have if she'd just written the essay about that. I dunno how to describe that well, but it was so well done.
A few of the essays dragged a bit. I didn't connect emotionally with all of them and for a couple I couldn't figure out why it existed. Not sure if I missed the point or if they just weren't as well done, but the majority of the essays were fantastic. The Fourth State of Matter, Out There, and The Boys of my Youth were all standouts.
Highly recommend if you like creative nonfiction. It's a wonderful collection and Beard is a great writer.