Call number
FIC WOU
Collection
Genres
Publication
Doubleday (1952), Edition: 2nd, 348 pages
Description
An "enormously entertaining" portrait of "a Bronx Tom Sawyer" (San Francisco Chronicle), City Boy is a sharp and moving novel of boyhood from Pulitzer Prize winner Herman Wouk. A hilarious and often touching tale of an urban kid's adventures and misadventures on the street, in school, in the countryside, always in pursuit of Lucille, a heartless redhead personifying all the girls who torment and fascinate pubescent lads of eleven.
Subjects
User reviews
LibraryThing member jayne_charles
Herman Wouk on one of his standard themes - the American Jewish experience. Plenty of humour, some tricky situations for the main character to extricate himself from, and a spot of gross injustice at the end! Can be read on two levels - either a clever satire on adult business dealings, or just a
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good humorous adventure story about a boy at Summer Camp. I've enjoyed all of Herman Wouk's books, and this was no exception, though maybe it lacks the depth of some of his longer novels. Show Less
LibraryThing member jennyo
Wouk is best known for his Pulitzer prize winning book, The Caine Mutiny, and for The Winds of War, but this book deserves some recognition of its own. It's a sweet, funny story about a very bright 11 year old Jewish boy growing up in the Bronx in the 1920s. Herbie's story proves that the lot of
I'm glad I read this book when I did. I've been sick for a few days and really feeling crummy, and this book lifted my spirits. Made me smile. I bet it'd make you smile too.
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little boys hasn't really changed all that much in the past 80 or 90 years. The first crush on a teacher, the first love, the desire to be known for something other than smarts, it all still exists and is just as painful today as it was then.I'm glad I read this book when I did. I've been sick for a few days and really feeling crummy, and this book lifted my spirits. Made me smile. I bet it'd make you smile too.
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LibraryThing member NellieMc
This was a fun book, but surprisingly superficial. It was funny in spots, but it's almost an old-fashioned book written for teens. Don't expect anything like Wouk's later writings. It paints a rosy picture of urban life, and that artificiality makes it almost cartoon like.
LibraryThing member shabacus
Herman Wouk perfectly captures the voice of an eleven-year-old boy, his motivations, and the way he relates to his fellows. The story rings true in the same way that Tom Sawyer did, but with the action shifted to the Bronx, New York, in 1928.
Paramount in this book are the characters, adults and
There are a few uncomfortable passages for the modern reader that reveal the novel to be very much a product of the late 1940s. These may alienate some readers, but it is important for them to be there lest the same mistakes be forgotten, then repeated.
A thoroughly charming book.
Paramount in this book are the characters, adults and
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children alike, not to mention the horse, who leap from the page regardless of how long or short a time they spend on it. Herbie's adventures are episodic, but fit together beautifully to form a complete story. Young readers will likely enjoy Herbie's adventures while skimming past the "adult" subplot, but adult readers will appreciate seeing how Herbie's behavior changes and affects the adult world.There are a few uncomfortable passages for the modern reader that reveal the novel to be very much a product of the late 1940s. These may alienate some readers, but it is important for them to be there lest the same mistakes be forgotten, then repeated.
A thoroughly charming book.
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LibraryThing member librisissimo
Delightful "memoir" of the stereotypical fat bookish boy on his first trip to summer camp, but with a more-happy-than-not ending. Gives a great feel for Jewish NYC in the Twenties. Not as dense or dramatic as "The Caine Mutiny" but with the same craft and insightfulness.
A good "story with a moral"
A good "story with a moral"
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for younger readers, but enough fun and excitement to keep them interested despite the unfamiliar setting. Show Less
LibraryThing member jimnicol
Wouk described this early book as inspired by Huckleberry Finn, and it is in a strange way a transference of Huck 'n Tom to Brooklyn in the thirties...really enjoyed this story of a chubby Jewish kid and his city and summer camp adventures...
LibraryThing member jeffome
charming little ride....tales of coming of age in the East Bronx....and at summer camp in the Berkshires in the 1920's...of a bright, lazy, somewhat overweight 11-year-old boy trying to find his way in a world that focuses mostly on bluff, swagger and athletic prowess....none of which he currently
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possesses. Very honest accurate representation of how it feels at that age to not fit in....(coming from one who still lacks athletic prowess!). Fun up and down adventure of small victories and subsequent crises that always seemed to follow. Charming without being silly...we see him begin to encounter the mysteries of the opposite sex, notice his parent's humanity, and find his moral center in an often unmoral world. It felt very real. Enjoyed very much. Show Less
LibraryThing member bookwyrmm
This is a classic that still had great appeal, but seems to have been almost forgotten.
Pages
348