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aholeistodig's review
5.0
Best Meno yet, no doubt in my mind. Meno's got a great knack for combining the subtle and the outrageous. I can definitely relate to the Tenenbaums comparisons--it has that same feel, only creepier. I also kept thinking of Kelly Link's story The Girl Detective (also excellent), an obvious connection maybe, but one that I'd say goes far beyond the titles.
Pssst! There's also a decoder ring you can cut out and assemble... AND a secret adventure hidden within the book!
Pssst! There's also a decoder ring you can cut out and assemble... AND a secret adventure hidden within the book!
dandandanno's review
2.0
Almost great, not quite good. A book you want to love but just end up sort of liking.
nationofkim's review
4.0
anyone who read encyclopedia brown-type books needs to read this. i couldn't stop laughing. the decoder ring is a nice bonus.
dantastic's review
4.0
When he was a youngster, Billy Argo was the best teenage sleuth Gotham City, New Jersey, had ever seen. That is, until his sister killed herself, sending Billy to the mental institution for a decade. Now that he's out, the boy detective has one last mystery to solve...
Back when I was a lad, sometime around the time the dog was first domesticated, I was a big fan of kid's mysteries like the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and the stupendous Encyclopedia Brown. They were soon lost to the sands of time as I gravitated toward more adult fare. Never did I ponder what might have happened to Encyclopedia Brown when he grew up.
The Boy Detective Fails is a quirky little book, written in the style of the mysteries I mentioned above, but with much more adult themes. In some ways, it reminds me of Sarah Gran's Claire DeWitt books, [b:Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead|9231999|Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead|Sara Gran|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312909281s/9231999.jpg|14112168] and [b:Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway|15814401|Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway|Sara Gran|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1368071910s/15814401.jpg|21540836]. Adulthood was not kind to the boy detective, not even after he gets out of the mental institution.
The mystery that seems to plague the boy detective is what caused his sister's suicide. On some level, though, I think the real mystery Billy Argo has to solve is the mystery of adulthood and finding his place in a world that no longer welcomes him as it once did. Even his old foes like Von Golum find themselves without purpose besides tormenting the other denizens of the group home they share.
Joe Meno does a great job using the style of the books he's drawn his inspiration from. Once Billy befriends the Mumford kids and becomes entwined with Penny Maple, the book is very hard to put down.
The post-modern quirks might irk some readers but I thought they were used well within the context of the story and didn't feel like gimmicky crap. Speaking of quirkiness, I kept imagine Jim Dale narrating this ala Pushing Daisies.
The Boy Detective Fails is a charming, poignant tale that should appeal to fans of the children's mysteries of yesteryear. It's an easy four star read.
Back when I was a lad, sometime around the time the dog was first domesticated, I was a big fan of kid's mysteries like the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and the stupendous Encyclopedia Brown. They were soon lost to the sands of time as I gravitated toward more adult fare. Never did I ponder what might have happened to Encyclopedia Brown when he grew up.
The Boy Detective Fails is a quirky little book, written in the style of the mysteries I mentioned above, but with much more adult themes. In some ways, it reminds me of Sarah Gran's Claire DeWitt books, [b:Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead|9231999|Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead|Sara Gran|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312909281s/9231999.jpg|14112168] and [b:Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway|15814401|Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway|Sara Gran|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1368071910s/15814401.jpg|21540836]. Adulthood was not kind to the boy detective, not even after he gets out of the mental institution.
The mystery that seems to plague the boy detective is what caused his sister's suicide. On some level, though, I think the real mystery Billy Argo has to solve is the mystery of adulthood and finding his place in a world that no longer welcomes him as it once did. Even his old foes like Von Golum find themselves without purpose besides tormenting the other denizens of the group home they share.
Joe Meno does a great job using the style of the books he's drawn his inspiration from. Once Billy befriends the Mumford kids and becomes entwined with Penny Maple, the book is very hard to put down.
The post-modern quirks might irk some readers but I thought they were used well within the context of the story and didn't feel like gimmicky crap. Speaking of quirkiness, I kept imagine Jim Dale narrating this ala Pushing Daisies.
The Boy Detective Fails is a charming, poignant tale that should appeal to fans of the children's mysteries of yesteryear. It's an easy four star read.
beth_diiorio's review
4.0
Protagonist, Billy Argo is a boy detective throughout his childhood, brought about by an inherent talent for noticing details, connecting the dots, and being the recipient of the gift of a "True-Life Junior Detective Kit." Billy has two assistants; his sister Caroline (sweet girl, fantastic note taker, and a whiz with collecting fingerprints) and his neighborhood friend Fenton (short, chubby, compliant Mama's boy with an unwavering belief in good triumphing over evil). "Beneath the shadow of the abandoned refinery, the children would play their own made-up games: Wild West Accountants! in which they would calculate the loss of a shipment of gold stolen from an imaginary stage coach, or Recently Divorced Scientists! in which they would build a super-collider out of garbage to try and win back their recently lost loves. Together, forever, they would explore the near-dark world of wonder and mystery." (Awwww...so endearing and creative...reminds me of my own childhood when we played outside all the time and made up our own adventures).
Billy saves clippings of newspaper headlines verifying his success: BOY DETECTIVE HOOKS SEA MONSTER CROOKS, BOY DETECTIVE SOLVES PRICELESS CROSSWORD PUZZLE, BOY DETECTIVE DASHES FIREWORK SMUGGLING RING, BOY DETECTIVE PULLS THE PLUG ON THE PHANTOM LIGHTHOUSE. Equally as important to the story are the characters of Effie and Gus Mumford; socially inappropriate and off-putting siblings (their initial encounter with the adult Billy Argo happens as they approach him and ask, "Do you see my bunny's head over there?") AND Billy's lifelong nemesis Professor Von Golum, a tall villain with a narrow face who schemes to rid the world of the Boy Detective.
Billy is forced to face a monumental loss in his life, a hole so big and difficult to deal with that he lands in St. Vitus' Hospital for the Mentally Ill. As an adult searching for the answer to the most significant mystery of his lifetime, he follows "a path laden with hidden clues and codes that dare to be deciphered...the boy detective may learn the greatest secret of all: the necessity of the unknown."
If you enjoy reading books full of unconventional quirkiness, clever humor, and unpredictability (remember Geek Love published back in 1989...another unique and quirky book...one of my favorites) you will probably enjoy The Boy Detective Fails. As an added bonus, there is an ongoing secret story written in code at the bottom of the pages beginning on page 27. Just assemble and use the decoder ring on the flap of the back cover to solve it.
Favorite Quotes:
"Perhaps Effie Mumford was only trying to prove something she already knew: that, like all animals, she was at the whim of the general disorder and unimaginative meanness of the world surrounding her."
"The boy detective is terrified of cigarettes: The smoke, like the malignant, vaporous claw of near-death, is enough to send poor Billy into a fit. He inches away from the woman but it is no use--like a sentient cloud of gray infirmity, it nears Billy's face as he begins to tremble and cough."
"Why is a mystery so terrifying to us as adults? Is it because our worlds have become worlds of routine and safety and order the older we've grown? Is it because we have learned the answer to everything and that answer is that there is never a secret passageway, a hidden treasure, or a note written in code to save us from our darkest moments? Why are we struggling so hard against believing there is a world we don't know? Is it more frightening to accept our lives as they are than it is to entertain a fantasy of hope?"
"We allowed ourselves, for one brief moment, to believe in something we could not see."
Billy saves clippings of newspaper headlines verifying his success: BOY DETECTIVE HOOKS SEA MONSTER CROOKS, BOY DETECTIVE SOLVES PRICELESS CROSSWORD PUZZLE, BOY DETECTIVE DASHES FIREWORK SMUGGLING RING, BOY DETECTIVE PULLS THE PLUG ON THE PHANTOM LIGHTHOUSE. Equally as important to the story are the characters of Effie and Gus Mumford; socially inappropriate and off-putting siblings (their initial encounter with the adult Billy Argo happens as they approach him and ask, "Do you see my bunny's head over there?") AND Billy's lifelong nemesis Professor Von Golum, a tall villain with a narrow face who schemes to rid the world of the Boy Detective.
Billy is forced to face a monumental loss in his life, a hole so big and difficult to deal with that he lands in St. Vitus' Hospital for the Mentally Ill. As an adult searching for the answer to the most significant mystery of his lifetime, he follows "a path laden with hidden clues and codes that dare to be deciphered...the boy detective may learn the greatest secret of all: the necessity of the unknown."
If you enjoy reading books full of unconventional quirkiness, clever humor, and unpredictability (remember Geek Love published back in 1989...another unique and quirky book...one of my favorites) you will probably enjoy The Boy Detective Fails. As an added bonus, there is an ongoing secret story written in code at the bottom of the pages beginning on page 27. Just assemble and use the decoder ring on the flap of the back cover to solve it.
Favorite Quotes:
"Perhaps Effie Mumford was only trying to prove something she already knew: that, like all animals, she was at the whim of the general disorder and unimaginative meanness of the world surrounding her."
"The boy detective is terrified of cigarettes: The smoke, like the malignant, vaporous claw of near-death, is enough to send poor Billy into a fit. He inches away from the woman but it is no use--like a sentient cloud of gray infirmity, it nears Billy's face as he begins to tremble and cough."
"Why is a mystery so terrifying to us as adults? Is it because our worlds have become worlds of routine and safety and order the older we've grown? Is it because we have learned the answer to everything and that answer is that there is never a secret passageway, a hidden treasure, or a note written in code to save us from our darkest moments? Why are we struggling so hard against believing there is a world we don't know? Is it more frightening to accept our lives as they are than it is to entertain a fantasy of hope?"
"We allowed ourselves, for one brief moment, to believe in something we could not see."
sebarose's review
4.0
A fun book. Succeeds in capturing childhood excitement and mystery as well as the surreality of adulthood.
zacmonday's review
4.0
This book has been waiting for me since my friend Bud gave it to me almost a decade ago. It's traveled with me around the world - three continents, I think. I've loaned it to at least six people to read, and it's found its way back to me after each of them has finished it.
I say this because, upon finishing it, I notice the book and my path to reading it are near mirrors of one another.
In Boy Detective, I found a story that wraps and moves and surprises. It's possessed of some absurd moments and knows when to deploy touching passages as well.
Early on, I settled in to accept that the plot, the structure, the actual layout of the book would be disjointed all the way through. I was wrong in all the right places.
The Boy Detective Fails asks readers to join in the work while recounting a story of what might have happened to any of the Boxcar Children or Encyclopedia Brown when they hit 30. It's not the real world, but the world they are in seemed real all the way through.
That and the tricks of writing made it a read worth waiting for.
I say this because, upon finishing it, I notice the book and my path to reading it are near mirrors of one another.
In Boy Detective, I found a story that wraps and moves and surprises. It's possessed of some absurd moments and knows when to deploy touching passages as well.
Early on, I settled in to accept that the plot, the structure, the actual layout of the book would be disjointed all the way through. I was wrong in all the right places.
The Boy Detective Fails asks readers to join in the work while recounting a story of what might have happened to any of the Boxcar Children or Encyclopedia Brown when they hit 30. It's not the real world, but the world they are in seemed real all the way through.
That and the tricks of writing made it a read worth waiting for.
batbones's review
3.0
Our worlds are so momentary. We are alone all our lives and then go off that way as well. (263)
"You found your way down here, and then...saw all this. You saw all of this and you couldn't find the answer. You couldn't find the answer because there was no answer for all this, was there?" (312)
A rather puzzling (and there are real puzzles including a cut-out decoder wheel), reader-helps-the-detective, genre-fluid mystery story that wraps up as a thoughtful meditation about depression, life's blank answer sheet, death and the death of childhood at the threshold of loss. The combination of a world lifted from a children's book, tending towards fantasy where villains have names such as Professor Von Golum and attempt to do really obvious things, with the horrors of the adult world, is erratic and unfortunately uneven. The whimsical quality instead threw the mordant aspects of the story off-kilter and made it less emotionally available to a reader who wanted very much to feel for the Boy Detective. One, with frustration, feels separated from him and what he is feeling; perhaps someone in a similar emotional state would be able to understand better. The beginning was not very gripping but it gets better and finishes off rather splendidly with a particular ghastly image that deserves its own surprising effects on potential readers. Hence the lack of a mention.
"You found your way down here, and then...saw all this. You saw all of this and you couldn't find the answer. You couldn't find the answer because there was no answer for all this, was there?" (312)
A rather puzzling (and there are real puzzles including a cut-out decoder wheel), reader-helps-the-detective, genre-fluid mystery story that wraps up as a thoughtful meditation about depression, life's blank answer sheet, death and the death of childhood at the threshold of loss. The combination of a world lifted from a children's book, tending towards fantasy where villains have names such as Professor Von Golum and attempt to do really obvious things, with the horrors of the adult world, is erratic and unfortunately uneven. The whimsical quality instead threw the mordant aspects of the story off-kilter and made it less emotionally available to a reader who wanted very much to feel for the Boy Detective. One, with frustration, feels separated from him and what he is feeling; perhaps someone in a similar emotional state would be able to understand better. The beginning was not very gripping but it gets better and finishes off rather splendidly with a particular ghastly image that deserves its own surprising effects on potential readers. Hence the lack of a mention.
mkean's review
5.0
I just realized that I haven't written a review for this book, MY FAVOURITE BOOK, and because I love it so much, I think it's about time that I do.
Okay, this book is--this book is great. It's subtle and melancholy with a bittersweet ending. It has quirky humor and lovable, flawed characters. It has a beautiful sense of irony plus hope plus sadness. IT's about childhood and growing up and moving on, and dealing with death. It's all very wonderful with a hint of nostalgia that works so perfectly.
The first few chapters are very sad, but then the main force of the story gets going and it truly is wonderful. It's a bitersweet story delivered with slightly sad humor and i just have SO MUCH LOVE for this book. It's a sad, quiet mood that wraps around you but ends up keeping you warm and making you appreciative in the end.
I haven't read this book in a while, granted, but this is the impression it's given me, so that must count for something.
Okay, this book is--this book is great. It's subtle and melancholy with a bittersweet ending. It has quirky humor and lovable, flawed characters. It has a beautiful sense of irony plus hope plus sadness. IT's about childhood and growing up and moving on, and dealing with death. It's all very wonderful with a hint of nostalgia that works so perfectly.
The first few chapters are very sad, but then the main force of the story gets going and it truly is wonderful. It's a bitersweet story delivered with slightly sad humor and i just have SO MUCH LOVE for this book. It's a sad, quiet mood that wraps around you but ends up keeping you warm and making you appreciative in the end.
I haven't read this book in a while, granted, but this is the impression it's given me, so that must count for something.