How Angel Peterson Got His Name

Paulsen, Gary. 2011. How Angel Peterson Got His Name: And other outrageous tales about extreme sports. Read by Patrick Lawlor. Brilliance Audio.
(2 hours, 10 minutes)

By its cover art, this appears to be a juvenile chapter book. It's not. It's Young Adult nonfiction. Read on ...

Think of all the America's Funniest Videos shows that you've seen featuring crazy stunts performed by teenage boys. Imagine similarly crazy stunts performed in the wilds of 1950s and 1960s Minnesota (Bungee jumping anyone? All you need is a barn roof, a pulley and a truck tube!) Now imagine those stunts in the printed or spoken word. And finally, imagine them with a long and humorous "set-up" by the funny and talented Gary Paulsen. Now you've got the gist of How show more Angel Peterson Got His Name.

First published in 2003, released this year in audiobook, How Angel Peterson Got His Name is a young adult book and a memoir of sorts. I say "of sorts," because in it, Paulsen shares stories of his boyhood (and a wild and reckless boyhood it was!), but in each of the hilarious anecdotes, Paulsen is not the star player, but a member of the supporting cast. He is the one waxing the skis for the skiing speed record attempt (Who needs a hill when you've got a V-8 engine to assist?). He is the one hoisting the WWII surplus parachute into the air for what could arguably have been the first hang-gliding attempt. He is the one who is not(?) peeking under the canvas flap to see the circus "hoochie coochie" women.

Award-winning narrator, Patrick Lawlor, does a superb reading of How Angel Peterson Got His Name. Despite being many years younger than Paulsen, listening to Lawlor is like sitting at the foot of a beloved uncle (dads don't tell these kinds of stories) while he spins yarns about the past.

At 72 years young, Gary Paulsen has seen many changes in his life. Listeners may find a few tidbits from the book to be shocking, such as the accidental electrocution of many a curious cat, when televisions, with their super-charged vacuum tubes were first introduced. Or young boys using "live pucks" for hockey practice. (Paulsen mentions cats or chickens) While the past sometimes seems more glamorous or exciting, these are the smaller things that remind us that progress is good. However, some things never seem to change. I am reminded of the old adage, "boys will be boys." May it ever be so.
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Booktalk: Before I tell you about this book, I must warn you: Do not try this stuff at home. In fact, there will be a lot of things that you're going to read about that sound exciting, that might even be fun. But don't be fooled: the crazy stunts you're going to read about could get you seriously hurt or even killed. So what are these crazy stunts? Well it all starts when 12-year-old Gary reads an article called "Fools Who Shoot the Falls" which tells about several men who tried to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Though almost all of them died...it sounded like a pretty cool idea! (Read from last para of p. viii "and so I found" through the end of page ix, "and I would gain fame only as the first boy stupid enough to drown in a show more barrele.") Miraculously, the barrel is caught up in the current and lifted to the edge of the dam, dropped off the edge to fall the 12 feet below where it hits a river below where it hits a sharp rock, breaks into pieces, and leaves our hero stunned and with a bloody nose, but still alive. Think that's the end of the crazy stunts? Of course not! But if you ever come across an empty refrigerator box and three full-force M-80 firecrackers...just leave them alone.

Audiobook as narrated by Patrick Lawlor is even funnier than reading it! show less

This book is a humorous autobiographical account of the escapades of thirteen year old Paulsen and his friends--- a great book of short stories for reluctant readers. The setting for these nonfiction short stories is northwestern Minnesota before television, video games, cell phones and internet---a time when money was short, but imaginations were tall. One story is about Paulsen securing himself in a pickle barrel to “shoot the falls”---a twelve foot drop that almost killed him. Another story is about Paulsen’s cousin and years later Paulsen’s own son which involves them urinating on an electric fence. Paulsen’s son had not heard the story when he tried the “experiment” himself. When Paulsen asked his son if he had peed show more on the electric fence, his son was surprised and asked, “How did you know?” Paulsen replied, “It’s apparently genetic.” The funniest story is also the title of the book which describes Angel Peterson’s misadventure trying to break a world speed record on snow skis behind a car going eighty miles per hour! show less

Really crazy stunts in this one. I often thought of Jack Gantos' [b:The Trouble in Me|23310664|The Trouble in Me|Jack Gantos|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1426512839s/23310664.jpg|42864790] while I was reading it because that one's full of unbelievably dangerous shenanigans, too.

We read this for my children's book club and the kids loved just rehashing all the insanity. We talked about why people do crazy stuff.

Renowned children’s/YA author Paulsen offers a series of vignettes from his teenage years, all with the theme “Stupid things bored teenage boys do.”

I thought this book was fun and funny, a quick read, and the stories are surprisingly not too dated. The weakest point was the last chapter, which ends with Paulsen giving a quick list of “other stupid things we did”, some of which sound comparatively less exciting, and he kind of sounds like a rambly 12-year-old, “and then we... and then we...” Mostly well-written though.

Extremely funny - I laughed out loud several times and read several sections to friends and family. Not something I would have been likely to pick up if it weren't for class. I've been told this is great for junior high read-alouds and I can see why this would work so well for that.

As a young boy I once touched an electric fence on a dare. That may be stupid, but what was stupider was touching it again. Like me, Gary Paulsen has lots of stories that only boys who did stupid things would understand. I laughed and understood because I would have done or encouraged the same behavior when I was younger.