Rating: 
Summary: "Catcher in the Rye" without troublesome adjectives
Review: Highly recommended for anyone who was born in, came from, or has relatives in a small town, particularly a small town in western NC or SC. Extra points if you're from around Rutherford, Gaffney, Shelby, or points thereby.Imagine "Catcher in the Rye" written from the point of view of a child who actually wants to catch baseballs, and who may be growing up on a farm that COULD be growing rye, and is as Southern rural as you can get without stomping on any politically correct toes. Tony Earley's first "novel" isn't so much a novel as it is a humorous and melancholy episodal remembrance of pre-adolescence in a small Southern town. Since Earley's date of birth comes much later than the setting in the novel (and Earley was born a scant few years before my birth), and since the small town in question is (apparently) about 30 miles from my small town of birth, I have a soft spot for his prose. The reader will NOT find a great novel here; however, the reader will find a tender and nuanced piece of fiction that will bring back memories to anyone born in the South sometime before the 1970's. Indeed, those born in ANY small town with any knowledge of their childhood-town's history will wince and nod knowingly, assuming that Earley was really writing about their town. Jim's coming of age has no rude points, but suggests the pre-adolescent angst. The book is concise--you can easily read it in one sitting, probably in a few hours. If the milieu and memories dredged up resound with you, the reader will probably want to go back and re-read some of the sections, just for the nostalgia. And, all that aside, the last section of the book, indeed, the last 3 or 4 pages of the book, are perhaps the best writing to come out of the South in decades. Earley has pieced together vignettes that border upon "young adult" fiction, along with a style that reminds one of Faulkner at his wittiest and Welty at her tenderest, and topped it off with a heart-wrenching finale that should make you cry. I should reiterate "witty"--there are some belly laughs in this book. The "lights on" section is laugh-out-loud, and the acerbic humor of the uncles deserves more chapters, or at least a re-visitation by Earley. The understated humor, even in the dramatic passages, suggest that Earley is holding back on us--he could become this generation's version of Jean Shepherd, if he chose to. The main drawback to the book is that it's too short. I gave it less than 5 stars mainly because of that, and partly because it sometimes reads as if some of the sections were meant as "young adult" prose but then changed into a "real adult" novel. I've been a fan of Earley even before his short stories were collected in "Here We Are in Paradise", and had hoped that his first novel would be a massive neo-Faulkner/Percy/Welty revival. I was disappointed with "Jim the Boy" for the first few tens of pages due to that expectation. Then, I got into the flow of the writing, and changed my expectations. The book reads in many places like a "young adult" work, and that's OK--I'd recommend it for teenagers. Then again, the nuances and beauty of the writing are obviously a bit more sophisticated than most "young adult" offerings, so it must be a real adult book. Of course, "As I Lay Dying" reads like a "young adult" book, and look what's in there. And, as I suggested earlier, IF you're from a small town and latch onto the protagonists in the first 20 or so pages, you'll bawl like a baby on the last page.
Rating:
Summary: Doris Buchanan Smith for grownups.
Review: This book has been done a disservice by being placed on school reading lists. It lacks the hooks of melodrama and humor, and either more contemporary or fantastic setting that would make it acceptable for a classroom of middle or high school students, and a hero too young and unheroic for most high school readers. ( The town scene of sorta gang behavior doesn't cut it.) For those 14 and younger, I'd recommend instead anything by Doris Buchanan Smith, particularly Return to Bitter Creek, for similar setting and development.
For adults and older adolescents, it's a book to happen upon and then read for the gently developed extended vignettes of place and character, and the calm of simply stated dialogue.
Rating: 
Summary: A sweet, lyrical, affectionate novel that warms the heart.
Review: In Jim the Boy Tony Earley has created a sweet, lyrical, truly affectionate novel that lovingly conveys the coming of age of a 10 year old boy in Depression Era North Carolina. This is a character driven book and Earley proves himself to be a true artist when is comes to the fine--yet undervalued--art of character development. Jim comes across as a genuine 10 year old boy. All too often, in my opinion, young characters in novels are just like kid characters in a movie, where a 24 year old is playing a 14 year old and comes across exactly like a 24 year old portraying a 12 year old. Jim???s behavior, thought patterns, emotive responses and relationships are those of a 10 year old. That???s not to say they are primitive or simplistic-they are in fact the complex, mundane, heartwarming genuine aspects of a kids life. The character of Jim would be a success unto itself but Early brings his artistry also to the other characters in this very fine novel. Jim???s mother and 3 uncles (who are helping to raise the fatherless boy) are equally well crafted. Even the bit players???a traveling salesman the uncles know, the overpowering yet absent grandfather who has terrorized the family since kingdom-come, the kids in the school yard, are also lovingly crafted. The other thing that marks this book as special is that it lacks The Great Event???this is the novel of an ordinary boy growing up. T???s not that there isn???t hardship???the boy???s father is dead, there???s the tyrannical grandfather, there???s the usual skirmishes and close calls and so on, but there is nothing here that any ordinary 10 year old wouldn???t have experienced and dealt with in the normal course of events. Which brings us to this book???s ultimate???and extraordinary???achievement. Jim the Boy is a story that effectively and lovingly demonstrates the extraordinary beauty, dignity and honor intrinsic to the simple living of the ordinary life. The magnificence of ordinary family love, community life, friendship. The fact that decent human beings can create something out of what appears to be not much of anything. That is, the fact that our own lives are filled with beauty and wonder. This is a truly wonderful book EVERYONE in the family can read and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Good old-fashioned read int he mold of a Steinbeck novel
Review: I knocked this book out in 2 sittings over the Christmas holiday. It was a fun little book with a few basic life lessons. The style of the book and the era in which it is set reminds me heavily of "The Red Pony" by Steinbeck. Finally, perhaps the best thing about this book is that it's a fun read for folks aged from 5-80, and there are no hidden agendas, political, social, or otherwise. Just a good old-fashioned read.
Rating: 
Summary: HOW CAN YOU FOOLS GIVE IT MORE THAN 1 STAR
Review: Is our children learning? They won't be, if we continue to force them to read this incredibly bad book. Basically, Jim the Boy is about Jim, some boring pre-adolescent who lives in North Carolina and does not have a father. Jim was raised in the West. The west of North Carolina. It's pretty close to California. In more ways than Washington, D.C. is close to California. Thus, it is very difficult for Jim to put food on his family. This is an extremely boring premise, and the book sort of shoots itself in the foot with this purposeless setting. However, do not misunderestimate the author's propensity to write a bad book: the setting isn't the only bad thing about this book.
For one, the dialogue is simply atrocious. It basically goes, "..." Uncle Bob said
"..." Jim said
"..." Uncle Al said
"..." Jim said
The fact that the characters always "say" something, and the fact that the dialogue is so bloody boring (think of a conversation between two adults about what they're going to have for dinner tomorrow) is horrible. In addition to this, there is hardly any character development at all - all the characters are so mundane, and so indistinguishable from each other, that I really didn't give a damn when something bad happened to one of them. Or when something good happens to them. Thus, when this book was supposed to put a smile on my face, I could only frown, frown from the interminable boredom that is this book. The fact that this book relies on facts ... says things that are not factual... this is going to undermine its campaign.
I think we agree, the past is over. If you're sick and tired of the politics of cynicism and polls and principles, come and join this campaign... this campaign to boycott Jim the Boy! ...
| 
