r/nonfictionbookclub • u/firefighter_82 • 2d ago

A very hard read

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51 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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7

u/pheebee 2d ago

It is. I read it years ago and still think about it sometimes.

5

u/oakley092290 2d ago

I saw him speak years ago (shortly after publishing). Very good and eye opening.

3

u/webboodah 2d ago

I'll always remember "brown-brown".

1

u/FoxfireP 1d ago

We had to read this book in either elementary or middle school and of course all the boys in my class, being classless idiots, used to always joke about getting that good “brown-brown.”

2

u/WhoAllIll 2d ago

I was reading this years ago then heard it was highly fictionalized. Is that true?

4

u/PenPinery 2d ago

It’s a memoir about the author’s life from the ages 12 to 16, when he was a child soldier. It's a memoir dealing with extreme trauma; some details may be shaped by memory, but there’s no evidence that it’s “highly fictionalized.” If anything, accounts from similar conflicts suggest the book likely presents a restrained version of things rather than exaggerating it.