The Man in the Ceiling

Rating:
Summary: Read this two times in a row!
Review: A wonderful book with a well-realized and very funny family. Feiffer absolutely captures many confusing emotions and situations that can arise when you're a kid and that you remember when you're a grown-up. And seriously, I turned to the last page, cried, and then returned right to the beginning again.

Rating:
Summary: A powerful message for everyone.
Review: Ever felt like a failure? Like you can't do anything? This is how Jimmy Jibbit feels about himself. In his opinion, the only thing he'll ever be able to do is draw comics. Not only will most people be able to empathise with Jimmy, they'll also learn the most important lesson: it sometimes takes a million mistakes until you create a master piece, and you just have to stick with it.

Rating:
Summary: Holiday Montessori Chat & Chew review
Review: I originally read "The Man in the Ceiling" in the fourth grade and I really didn't understand it, but then in the sixth grade I read it again, and now, as the title of the review mentions, it's my favorite book ever. I am now sixteen years old and I'm still reading it over and over again. The story deals with a young boy who struggles with inadequacy and failure. His main aspiration is to become a cartoonist, but he recieves little support from anyone. His father, a bitter overworked man, wishes Jimmy (the boy) would play sports rather than make comics, and because of this, finds it hard to express love toward his son. His sisters nag him and torment him daily and his mother has little to do with what goes with him. Jimmy's uncle, a failure himself, tells Jimmy to keep at it, and he'll eventually make it, but by the end of the story, the uncle himself is the one who is broken (the not the very end, but it's to good to give away.) Not so fast, this story isn't as depressing as I've made it out to be. It's actually very witty and funny and has a dark sense of humor. Comics Jimmy draws are included through out the story and it is interesting to see how Jimmy interprets events and his surroundings into his art. Very funny, but very sad, and with a wonderful ending. What every book should be, regardless of the reading level.

Rating:
Summary: This book will make you read without a stop!!!
Review: My husband and I drove our son to college and on the 5-hour ride home, I read the entire book to my husband. We loved it! My younger son a cartoonist and I found so much truth in the book. I suspect, also, that this book is also somewhat autobiographical; it hits the mark so well. I recommend it to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Not Feiffer's best
Review: Picked this up after "A barrel of laughs, a vale of tears", and found it merely diverting rather than life changing. It's a nice enough story, and probably means a lot to him as a drawing artist, but doesn't resonate as well to the non-pencil holder, I think.

-dB

Rating:
Summary: Not Feiffer's best
Review: Picked this up after "A barrel of laughs, a vale of tears", and found it merely diverting rather than life changing. It's a nice enough story, and probably means a lot to him as a drawing artist, but doesn't resonate as well to the non-pencil holder, I think.

-dB

Rating:
Summary: A fabulous, funny, feel-good story!
Review: This is an absolutely wonderful work of art! The poignant story of a boy's discovery of his own ability to push past failures to accomplish something difficult is studded with laugh-out-loud portraits of family members, and hilarious episodes of family life. It is filled with truth and love. And the cartoons and illustrations are an entirely wonderful addition to the story. They are excellent in their own right, and add immeasurably to the tale.

My daughter picked this book out of the library at random, was glued to it for a day, and told me I should read it. Boy, was she right! Try it, and see if you don't come up laughing and crying at the end.

Rating:
Summary: Holiday Montessori Chat & Chew review
Review: We are a group of students in Kansas City, Mo. that read books and discuss them over our lunch. Our grades are 4th -6th. We all had different opinions of the book. Most of us really enjoyed the comics, some of related to the fact that he could not draw hands. Many of us related to his family life. His father worked very hard and found it difficult to show emotion. One day the family went to a play produced by their artistic uncle. The father saw himself in the play as he acted towards his family. The character that he compared himself to was a robot with no emotion. After the play he tried to show more emotion to his family. The main character Jimmy is nothing like his father.For one,Jimmy likes to draw comics and is more of a artistic kind of kid unlike his father who likes baseball and his work.Then there is this boy at school (Charlie Beemer)who wants for Jimmy to draw his ideas in exchange for his friendship.Jimmy likes to draw his own ideas.In the end his father finds more time for his family. In all we all think that you will like the book THE MAN IN THE CELLING.