"The Sparkling-Eyed Boy is so full of color and light and life." -- Brad Land, author of GoatThe theme of summer love, in Amy Benson's hands, grow...
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Jul 27, 2009
Jenny
rated it: 
OK, there are things that are really great about this memoir -- there's no question about that. But I really intensely disliked the narrator. It's a lyrical memoir/personal essay divided into short chapters that don't always obviously connect but they relate in an intuitive way. It's a very poetic journey through the narrator's obsession with a romance she had as a child and teenager and the feelings she still has about this relationship today. It's very crazy, intense, brave, and full-on. But I
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Mar 29, 2009
Lane
rated it: 
The writer who chose this book as a breadloaf award-winner gave me this book to read. You would think that would be enough to induce me to give it a chance, but I read a chapter or two about this woman's obsession with her childhood crush, I was like, "oh, barf" and tossed it aside.
I opened it again this year, and was mesmerized by it. It is an experiment in how deep, instead of broad, nonfiction can go. Seems like nonfiction usually throws about as much info at you as it More...
I opened it again this year, and was mesmerized by it. It is an experiment in how deep, instead of broad, nonfiction can go. Seems like nonfiction usually throws about as much info at you as it More...
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Jul 06, 2008
Colin
rated it: 
It's difficult to explain how wonderful this book is without making you actually read it; on the cover of things, you'd be forgiven for thinking that you didn't want to read an entire book about the author's first love. And yet, Benson's control of language and craft, her ability to structure essays, and her unabashed honesty in dealing with her own complicated emotions make this a deeply affecting book. It takes guts to write about something so familiar and so alien to everyone, and skill to
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Feb 19, 2009
Sunshine
rated it:
i loved the way this author writes.. if i was to write a book i would want to write like her.
my favorite way she explained love in different parts is as follows..
"i could love you like a spotted touch-me-not, my delicate orchid heads bobbing in the wind, my arms rich with juices. and under my leaves small sacks that, if touched, snap and curl and shower thier seeds. if you came down this gravel road right now and touched me- it wouldnt matter where- i would turn inside out lik More...
my favorite way she explained love in different parts is as follows..
"i could love you like a spotted touch-me-not, my delicate orchid heads bobbing in the wind, my arms rich with juices. and under my leaves small sacks that, if touched, snap and curl and shower thier seeds. if you came down this gravel road right now and touched me- it wouldnt matter where- i would turn inside out lik More...
Aug 21, 2007
Megs
rated it:
Amy Benson's haunting story of love lost resonates with all of us. Set in Michigan's Upper Peninsula it rung true for me seeing that I come from Michigan. Your heart goes out to Amy as no matter what happens in her life she always seems to drift back someway somehow to the sparkling eyed boy. Being it a true story we never know the true name of this sparkling eyed boy, but as a reader you can find your own face from your own sparkling boy.
Mar 04, 2008
Michelle
rated it:
I saw Amy Benson at Bread Loaf one summer and she read from this memoir. I love it's experimental form and the way it uses a lot of fictional techniques.
Jul 12, 2008
Stacie
rated it:
a beautifully written book, my copy is so dog eared and creased from me going back again and again to re-read passages.
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