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A review by zacmonday
The Boy Detective Fails by Joe Meno
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.