Boy's Life

By: Robert R. McCammon

Narrated by: Richard Thomas

In me are the memories of a boy's life, spent in that realm of enchantments. These are the things I want to tell you....

Robert McCammon delivers "a tour de force of storytelling" (BookPage) in his award-winning masterpiece, a novel of Southern boyhood, growing up in the 1960s, that reaches far beyond that evocative landscape to touch readers universally.

Boy's Life is a richly imagined, spellbinding portrait of the magical worldview of the young - and of innocence lost.

Zephyr, Alabama, is an idyllic hometown for eleven-year-old Cory Mackenson - a place where monsters swim the river deep and friends are forever. Then, one cold spring morning, Cory and his father witness a car plunge into a lake -- and a desperate rescue attempt brings his father face-to-face with a terrible, haunting vision of death. As Cory struggles to understand his father's pain, his eyes are slowly opened to the forces of good and evil that surround him. From an ancient mystic who can hear the dead and bewitch the living, to a violent clan of moonshiners, Cory must confront the secrets that hide in the shadows of his hometown - for his father's sanity and his own life hang in the balance....

©1991 Robert McCammon (P)2011 Simon & Schuster, Inc

Critic reviews

"Wonderful...filled with enough adventures, joy, discovery, and heartache for a dozen boys' lifetimes." ( Houston Chronicle)

"No one can paint word pictures as vividly as Robert McCammon." (Sandra Brown)

"It's McCammon's The Prince of Tides.... Incredibly moving." (Peter Straub)

I love to travel and this book takes me away

Mccammon

fleshed out his characters so well. The descriptions of scenes are just vivid enough to draw the reader in but leaves room for reader to fill in his or her own details. I have a hard time putting this book down. I have read many times. Richard Thomas just adds to the experience excellent reader.

I read this book when my boys were very young. I loved it.

This is a very good book, but this isn’t all of it. The book has so much more to it. So much more. I was very disappointed that it wasn’t all included. Left out all the good parts.

Favorite book for many ages!

If you could sum up Boy's Life in three words, what would they be?

Exciting
Fast paced
Reasonable

What other book might you compare Boy's Life to and why?

Some of ET.. some of Tom Sawyer

Which character – as performed by Richard Thomas – was your favorite?

The Lady.. I could just picture this little woman!

If you could rename Boy's Life, what would you call it?

Mystery! or Small Town Mystery

Any additional comments?

I have a notorious reputation as an avid reader, but someone who does not like to re-read books. The books that I have read more than once makes a very short list, but counting this audible "reading" this is the fourth time that I have read this book.. and it is wonderful every time.
I also sent my copy to my dad ten years ago after I first read it.. and he was affected in very much the same way.

short

This book was short and sweet. McCammon didn't draw it out or get too complex but simply shared a story. It's worth a credit and I enjoy McCammon's work. However, that being said, he didn't develop the characters deeply. This simply isn't a book for someone to analyze deeply but just listen and enjoy.

This is abridged!!!! Too Bad!

This book has been a favorite of mine for years. My son is almost 13 and I thought it would be perfect to listen to during a car trip. Well, it was- sort of.

The story is eerie and wonderful and takes you back in time to the US of the 1960s in a way that reminds me a little of To Kill A Mockingbird. The narrator, Richard Thomas is wonderful, his voice, accents and characters all completely believable and compelling.

So why does it only get 3 stars? It is ABRIDGED. I should have noticed before I bought it how short the audible book was, but I was so happy to see it that I didn't. This version cuts out much of the richness and texture and magical realism of the original novel, leaving you with a sort of cockeyed murder mystery story- still enjoyable, but so so disappointing to anyone who has read the book.

Buy this if you want a great introduction to Robert McCammon- and then join me, as I am sure you will want to, in asking Audible to give us the REAL book, and not this poor cut up imitation.

boy's life review

Is there anything you would change about this book?

no

What was one of the most memorable moments of Boy's Life?

the climax

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

yes

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

yes

Any additional comments?

the audio cut out a lot of the actual book. i listened to the entire audio, and when we talked about it in class, i realized that i was missing some key elements from the story.

This book must be unabridged!

This is one of my 2-3 most favorite novels, period. I was excited to find it on Audible and bought it before I realized it is an old ABRIDGED version read by Richard Thomas. OK with Thomas, not with abridgement. McCammon is one of our great prose stylists - it's a crime to chop it up. I'm sure Audible will get the message and produce a full length reading, after the great response to the new rendition of McCammon's Swan Song.

I stopped listening to this one after 20 minutes. I'll wait for the real thing.

Wish it was not an abridged version.

What made the experience of listening to Boy's Life the most enjoyable?

Read it back in the 90's and loved the whole storyline.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Disappointed because of the abrigdement.

Which character ??? as performed by Richard Thomas ??? was your favorite?

Richard's reading was excellent, I hope he will read an unabridged version.

A GREAT SHORT STORY BY McCAMMON!!!

This is a great story about Cory and his dad and one crazy summer. Cory and his dad see's a car drive into the lake they attempt to save the man behind the wheel and then Cory's dad see's more than is head and hart can handle.A naked man handcuffed to the steering wheel with a nazi tattoo is enough to make anyone go crazy!! Oh ya and Cory see's a man in a black coat watching everything from the woods.. No body no car no missing person and a crazy story. Will anybody believe this story or is Cory's dad really going crazy?? Short book that you won't put down.. Check it out

Don't buy

Although I love the narrator, the abridgement is terrible. You miss so much from the book, don't bother. But do read. :-)