All American Boy, William J. Mann. (Hardcover 0758203284)

Search - All American Boy

All American Boy
Author: William J. Mann

"Would you come home, Walter? Please?" — With these desperate words from the mysterious, distant mother he hasn't seen in ten years, Wally Day finds his carefully constructed world falling in on itself. For years, the handsome actor has made denial his own particular art form--from his stalled career to his emotionless embrace of the hard-edged b... more »oys who regularly traipse through his bedroom. But now, faced with this sudden intrusion from his past, Wally must confront the reasons he left his hometown of Brown's Mill in a cloud of anger, shame, and guilt. He must look face-to-face upon the ghosts of his past: his mother, who he once loved more than anyone else in the world; his abusive father, who never looked at Wally without contempt and suspicion; the life-affirming Miss Aletha, whose love had given Wally refuge; and most of all, Zandy--the man whose memory still haunts him, whose love for Wally had been called a crime. A crime that sent Zandy to jail.

But Wally isn't the only one who's confronting ghosts. His mother Regina had dreams too once, dreams corrupted by fate and circumstance. With her own world unraveling, with strange, confusing memories of a murder that may or may not have occurred, she turns to the son she barely knows for help.

As Wally unravels the dark side of his All-American family, he has a chance to make peace with the boy he was in order to become the man he needs to be. He is once more the 14-year-old living at Miss Alethas house on the wrong side of town, the music of Saturday Night Fever providing the charged, erotic soundtrack to his life. The world was on the exuberant edge of change in those days, and Wally relives the thrill of discovery, the promise of forbidden sex--and the mistake that cost him everything.

It's a journey that will take both Wally and his mother back to their pasts--to a time when Regina was a starry-eyed girl and Wally the good son, the smartest boy in his class, the shining picture of the All-American Boy. It's a journey, too, that takes a chance on the future--for now, mirroring his own involvement with Zandy twenty years before, Wally finds he may have something to teach about love and self to a sixteen-year-old boy.

Bestselling author William J. Mann has written his most powerful work yet: a searing novel about the difference between going home and finding yourself there. Along the way, he asks tough, heartrending questions: What is the price of regret? Is love ever wrong? What does it mean to forgive? By turns poignant and sexy, harrowing and hopeful, All American Boy is a big, wise book filled with insight, humor, hurt, truth, and the ever-renewing hope of love.

ISBN-13: 9780758203281
ISBN-10: 0758203284
Publication Date: 5/3/2005
Pages: 339
Rating:

Currently 3.7/5 Stars.

3.7 stars, based on 7 ratings

Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

Joseph S. reviewed All American Boy on 7/21/2009

Helpful Score: 2

The story deals with many issues of past pain and is extremely well told. I found the style interesting and captivating. Mann explores the many regrets that most of us hold onto over what we always should have done better or possibly not at all. Life is full of decisions that in retrospect should have been avoided. The issues of coming to terms with your sexuality and what are you truly responsibile for as you grow up, are also explored in this sometimes painful story of Wally's life. I recommend this story to all.

Share/Like this Review?

Randy H. reviewed All American Boy on 1/8/2007 + 18 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

The book has a lot of likeable characters. It also deals with child molestation in a rather interesting way. If a teen actively seeks sex from an adult and has an ongoing loving relationship is this wrong. This is one of the issues the author deals with in an open, unapologetic way.

Share/Like this Review?

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

Linda T. (sweetwind) reviewed All American Boy on 7/16/2012 + 10 more book reviews

Not a book for those who need definitive answers. To the contrary, the book really explores the space between what we believe or remember, and what is the truth. Is the truth out there? The main character, Walter, is similar to Jeff in Mann's other book (The Men From The Boys) in that he often acts like a jerk but still seems to be surrounded by people who love and support him. Walter in particular was blessed by mentors in his small town upbringing, from stage actress Josephine Leopold to the local transgendered woman Miss Aletha, not to mention Zandy his first lover, the real reason he returns home for a visit. Also like TMFTB the book has an experimental narrative form, usually written in present tense. It was most interesting around the middle when the vampires showed up. (No, that's not a joke!)

Share/Like this Review?

Read All Book Reviews of "All American Boy"

Genres:

Search - All American Boy

Top Member Book Reviews

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

Loading...