The Good Times Are Killing Me
by Lynda Barry
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 275)
Read in January, 2001
I fell in love with this story a few years ago when we performed it as a play at my high school. It’s short and very readable – the language isn’t particularly complicated, but it’s arresting in its own way. Lynda Barry captures the voice of her adolescent narrator flawlessly. Twelve-year-old Edna Arkins is every bit as awkward as you might hope, but also sweet and earnest. She’s not the popular bitch you hated in middle school; she’s the twelve-year-old you. Am I biased? Proba...more
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Read in July, 2008
I enjoyed the story and especially the style Lynda Barry tells it in. She uses the theme of music to write about growing up. She has a straightforward descriptions about the gap between the ideals of equality her english class reads about, and the fact that once she gets to 7th grade everyone separates into groups of people that look the same.
She also includes profiles and portraits she wrote and drew of musicians from the 19th century. The musicians' lives sound amazing and tragic and there ...more
She also includes profiles and portraits she wrote and drew of musicians from the 19th century. The musicians' lives sound amazing and tragic and there ...more
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Read in February, 2007
recommends it for:
people who have lost a best friend
This is a hilarious, quirky, and touching meditation on friendship, music, and race, told in true Linda Barry style. If you haven't read any Linda Barry, you should. She's really funny, but totally eccentric. You can read this book in one or two train rides--it's an illustrated text. Couldn't be more exacting about the embarassment and cruelty of being a seventh grader.
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Read in March, 2008
This is a book about race. Edna Arkins is a white adolescent. Gradually all the white families move out and blacks and filipinos move in. It's about how when she was younger her best friend is a black girl and how they feel they can't talk to each other when they're older. It is set in the 60s and talks a lot about the music of the time.
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Read in May, 2008
Short heart-breaking story about two best friends, one black, one white, both poor who end up drifting apart, due in large part to racial tensions in the Sixties. At the end there are pages of beautiful art and facts about the music and musicians of the era (music plays an important part in the story).
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Read in January, 1998
Lynda Barry is acutely in touch with the feelings, speech, music, and funky funky dance of childhood. The Good Times Are Killing Me is a beautiful story of race relations and family dynamics fleshed out with sweet soul music.
If you get a chance to see the stage adaptation of this story, DO IT!
If you get a chance to see the stage adaptation of this story, DO IT!
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Read in August, 2007
I can't describe how much I love Lynda Berry. She totally sums up my whole generation and how it feels to be a kid and try to forge your own set of values in a world where all is chaos. This deals with race in a really nice way, I would recommend it to young audiences (teens) in a big way.
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Read in February, 2008
Short YA novel about a girl whose neighborhood is going through white flight, who is in one of the last white families to remain on the block. She becomes best friends with a black girl, but their friendship is disrupted by racial tension. The kids' world and perspectives rang true.
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If only I could find all the music she mentions in this book at the library, I would have a totally kick ass collection of zydeco, country, blues, cajun, and folk music. How many books can you say that about?
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Who wouldn't love this, smart, beautifully written stories about childhood.
"we both carried the record player down the stairs one step at a time slowly and crefully like it was a lighted birthday cake."
"we both carried the record player down the stairs one step at a time slowly and crefully like it was a lighted birthday cake."
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Good illustrated novel, but not enough meat. And it's just so unfair to compare any of Lynda Barry's other work after reading Cruddy.
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I am re-reading this little gem. I am hungry for creative, funny Ms. Barry right now. I love her. Love her.
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A very easy read that deals with some pretty sophisticated stuff. I love how the kids talk to each other.
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Awww, I love this. Do I really have to go into the myriad of reasons.
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This one is actually a novel.
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