*Contains Spoilers (but not many)*

*Personal (as opposed to scholarly) Review*

This memoir was fairly depressing. It was difficult for me to get through, because I felt like I was going to continually be disappointed by the people in the story. There was always a sense of hopelessness and dread looming in my mind, preventing me from wanting to pick it up again, afraid of what was going to happen next. In this way, I felt a kind of empathy for young Toby (or Jack as he preferred to be called as a boy).
I found it difficult to relate to any of the people in this story—even Jack. I kept wishing that his mom would get a clue or get a backbone or show some spine or something. I couldn’t understand why she kept subjecting herself and her child to the situations described. I’m sure that my lack of relatability is based upon my own life experiences. My mother was also a single parent. My father was even more worthless than Jack’s biological father. I faced many struggles and painful experiences due to the fact that my mother had to play two roles while I was growing up. Because this is fairly impossible for one human to do, one of the roles suffered. My mother was never able to be a mother, because she was forced to be the breadwinner and provider. Time and maturity have allowed me to see my childhood and adolescence much more objectively than when I was living them. It also provides me an enormous respect and sincere amazement for my mother’s accomplishments and success for being a single parent. I am easily reminded of her unique personality and character when reading a story such as This Boy’s Life.
The telling of the story—the writing itself—was mostly entertaining and quite clear. I was frequently reminded that the storyteller was much older during his telling of the story. This could simply be my own bias interpreting something incorrectly. The voice often felt too mature for the young adolescent I was learning about. By contrast, the details of this story, which were consistent, kept me there in the moment, when and where everything was happening. Perhaps Toby really was that smart when he was that young. I don’t feel like the author was trying to be deceptive in any way, so the voice doesn’t bother me. I really think it’s just a matter of style or aesthetic. Some details were extraordinary, especially the dialogue. There is absolutely no way I could recall dialogue from my youth the way Mr. Wolff has done. I have tried. It just isn’t in my memory. Whether this came directly from the writer’s memory or was somewhat improvised doesn’t make any difference to me. The intention feels honest and sincere. To me, there is no question of integrity. Plus, the way the dialogue is written into the story feels natural. It fits. There is no jolting away from the story.
The desolate tone of this memoir is nearly constant. Even when something amazing happens, like the chance for Jack to leave that awful town and get away from that terrible Dwight, the potential change and escape contain some fatal flaw that wrecks the whole deal. The way in which Wolff writes about his acceptance to Hill is tainted immediately. The reader isn’t even given an opportunity to be excited for young Toby. I’m not sure how I feel about the bleak foreshadowing Wolff occasionally offers. Perhaps he is trying to maintain a more consistent perspective or maybe it is an attempt to avoid dashing the reader’s hopes? In some ways, it leaves me feeling that further reading is futile. I don’t need to learn the details. I know it isn’t going to work out. Nothing has worked out for young Toby, aka Jack.
I do admire his (and here I pause, not really sure what to call it, not really certain of the most appropriate label) … courage (?). I had a few great opportunities when I was young and chickened out of all of them. I felt like I would never fit into the environments these new situations would create. I knew that I did not have the same kind of background and financial backing that other accepted candidates possessed. I feared the worst and decided to avoid facing those possibilities. I still feel a kind of regret when my mind wonders back to those decisions.
Overall, this is a well crafted story. The details and consistency are masterful. I just didn’t really enjoy it that much. ( )

Having just bought the book, I expected to find 'Old School' mentioned in the list of Wolff's other books and was surprised not to see it there. It didn't take me long, though, to recognise this as a sort of autobiographical prequel (really dislike that word!) to his later novel. It has the same examination of honesty or lack of it and the same sort of personal yet unexcusing style epitomised in the title 'This Boy's Life' rather than, say, 'My Early Life'.

It also displays what seems to be effortless prose and adult reflections looking back so that the story jumps once or twice from those early years to the narrator as a married man with children.

It is easy to sympathise with the young Jack, not so much setting up pretty major dissemblances as creating the vision he has of his fundamental self, not to mention trying to deal with the despicable Dwight.

It's a book that invites the reader to examine their own selves, partly from Wolff's broader reflections and partly because of his open self-examination. ( )

Toby Wolff's own story as a young boy is one of a series of misfortunes that he is forced to overcome. I have little doubt this story would appeal to teenage boys as it is one adventure right after another.

I was really disappointed by the ending, which is why I rated this so low. I kept expecting his story to have a redemptive quality but alas it never materialized...perhaps that is in a sequel? ( )

em>This Boy's Life was spellbinding. Tobias Wolff's personal memoir is not tremendous. It may even sound familiar to anyone who comes from a broken home, had troubles with a step-parent, or had a mischievous streak. What makes This Boy's Life such a page turner is the honesty that radiates from every page, every sentence. It is not an overwhelming tragic tale, but it is painful and real. Wolff does not paint a picture of a hero, nor victim. It's just an account of a troubled childhood. The writing is so clear, so unmuddied, that we can easily see bits of our own childhoods reflected in every chapter. ( )

Young Toby Wolff loves traveling with his mother from town to town as she dates, and escapes the worst kind of men. The two hav adventures from Florida to Arizona to Washington when they end up in Chinook, WA living with a man named Dwight and his three children. But Dwight is not exactly a very good father figure as he takes Toby's (now calling himself Jack) profits from his newspaper delivery job and abuses him mentally and physically. I can't quite figure out why this book is so popular. The story wasn't very enticing for me, nor did I really care what happened to the most of the characters. I am not sure how much of these stories are true and how much are fictionalized but I found myself just wanting the whole thing to be over. I didn't like Old School when I first read it but in comparison to this I would much rather read that than This Boy's Life. ( )