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99th out of 679 books
—
2,037 voters
My Story
by
Dave Pelzer
Dave Pelzer's remarkable journey from a child who lived in terror of his unstable, violently unpredictable mother's every move, to his emergence as an inspiration the world over is a remarkable tale of survival and the triumph of the human spirit over adversity.
Dave Pelzer's three volumes of memoirs - A Child Called 'It', The Lost Boy and A Man Named Dave - brought this st...more
Dave Pelzer's three volumes of memoirs - A Child Called 'It', The Lost Boy and A Man Named Dave - brought this st...more
Paperback, 437 pages
Published
2002
by Orion Books
(first published 1995)
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Sep 02, 2007
Sabrina Robinson
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
helping professionals
Shelves:
non-fiction
Hardest thing I every had to read. The first time I read them by choice and since I did not have small children I was only appalled on the most basic level. Now with a five year old and having to read it again for class, I am tortured. I want to reach through the pages and choke the mom out. Also I am furious at the so-called "saviors" who finally after years at looking at evidence of the most heinous abuse finally decided to "risk" their jobs and call the police. Don't get me started. This book...more
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I read this for work and I struggled my way through it. This was and still is the hardest book I've ever read. I wish it were a fiction. When I finished reading this mans story, I couldn't have it in my house anymore. I gave it to a friend of mine who is a teacher and asked her to pass it on when she was done. She told me she also struggled to get through it but felt that all teachers should read Dave's story. It's a sad and disgusting example of how so many people failed him.
9 likes · like · see review
Oct 23, 2011
Lissa
added it
This is another one of those books where I say it is difficult to like.
But this is for another reason.
I have no doubt that some of the things reported by the memoirist actually happened, but the focus on the first book is the torture, and the focus on the subsequent two books in this anthology is also the childhood torture even though the focus should be on the life he was living at the time as an adult.
Pelzer is a very savvy businessman and knows what sells. He also knows how to sell himself. H...more
But this is for another reason.
I have no doubt that some of the things reported by the memoirist actually happened, but the focus on the first book is the torture, and the focus on the subsequent two books in this anthology is also the childhood torture even though the focus should be on the life he was living at the time as an adult.
Pelzer is a very savvy businessman and knows what sells. He also knows how to sell himself. H...more
1 like · like · see review
A year ago i saw my sister reading this book on a sofa i requested what she was reading. she told me she was reading this book named MY STORY by Dave Pelzer in which he has deliberated how hard he spent his lifetime till then he wrote his book. He writes about his alcoholic mother who ill-treated her every additional day in his life. i thought the book would be stimulating I wanted to read how evil can a mother be to her child who she gives birth after having hard 9 months. After a few weeks whe...more
This trilogy is such a powerful and gut wrenching tale of a man who had one of the most darkest childhoods in the U.S. We all know there are stories of children who have had it worse but just reading this one will actually break you down emotionally.
While reading this, I found it difficult to read continuously and just had to take a break just to escape the rawness of Dave's storytelling. I liked the breaks in the tales to represent the transition of growing up. As I finished the book, I am so
...more
A Boy Called It-I never got around to reading the other two books of his,but I decided I wanted to do that so I re-read the first one. Wow. I forgot how amazing this book was. I read it cover to cover today without putting it down once and I almost never do that. It was amazing and heart retching and terrifying to think that things like that really go on. An excellent book that EVERYONE should read and it's a really simple short read too.
The Lost Boy-This was just as good as the first. It expla...more
The Lost Boy-This was just as good as the first. It expla...more
I'm not sure how indept this one book get's into the horrible childhood of this man and his brother's, but I got a very thourough read in the first print's of it, in three book's. This was one of the worste child abuse case's in California history and possibly US history, that we know of anyway. It really makes you wonder if the boy's mother wasn't merely an unstable alcoholic. Look's to me that she may very well have also been manic or bi-polar of some extreme kind. Their father was a fireman (...more
I'm sorry...child abuse is a very serious issue and I'm glad the author is bringing it to light by writing this book, but there are several things that just don't sit well with me. My gut tells me that this is untrue. I read this once before several years ago and I became very emotional, but I wanted to give it another read and a second opinion. I'm not saying it doesn't sit well with me because it's disturbing...it's extremely disturbing and an awful account of terrible abuse, but the entire ti...more
A CHILD CALLED 'IT': Dave Pelzer's story is of a child beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games that left one of her three sons nearly dead. No longer considered a son, or a boy, but an 'it', Dave had to learn how to play these games in order to survive. His bed was an old army cot in the basement and when he was allowed food it was scraps from the dogs' bowl. Throughout, Dave kept alive the dream of finding a family who...more
An amazing story of a man who suffered at the hands of his abusive, violent alcoholic mother, but was able to survive and overcome his situation through his own strength of will and with the help of teachers, social workers, and foster parents. He may have to deal with the emotional and psychological scars everyday, but he is strong enough to still find a way to live a meaningful and happy life. He shows that children who have experienced such horrendous abuse and travel through the foster care...more
This is not an easy book to read through. As I read this book, I can’t imagine how a mother could abuse her own flesh and blood to this extent. His mother never failed to shock me of the kind of “games” she could come up with, and the kind of lies she could come up with to cover up her sins whenever social worker and police officer checked on them. I am disappointed when his passive father chose to leave the family instead of stopping the abuse.
My heart goes out to the young David and I can’t im...more
My heart goes out to the young David and I can’t im...more
The first part of the book is about the author’s misery, fear and how the abuse impacted on his life as he grew up, his struggle to develop meaningful relationships with his mother, father and siblings and for how many years he was misunderstood. (I had a hard time reading this book. I can’t believe that his mother can do such cruel act and badly abused him. I can’t believe that all has been told is true, that it really happened.) The second one highlights the trauma of and confusion of being pa...more
The three books were loaned to me by a friend. I read the first one, "A Child Called It" and I honestly had a hard time beleiving that all he said was "truth". As we grow up we sometimes imbelish things that we did of saw or went through as children, and he didn't tell his story until he was an adult. Having said that, as I read the other two, "The Lost Boy" and "A Man Named Dave" I do beleive he was abused and he had the courage to survive and face life, and move on. He didn't let it totally de...more
At the age I read this book, I found it distirbing and horrific and i didnt really get what the author was trying to do by writing such a book. But when I was in 7th grade i picked up the book again and decided it would be best if I read it with a more knowledgable aproach and an open mind. Though the horrors of the child abuse was still the same I understood the struggle and appriated the peice more. THis book goes deep into deatial of child abuse and how it is dealt with inside the home and in...more
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I read these while in middle and high school. They made my heart HURT! The author was later on Oprah, and the book sky-rocketed. I cannot say that this was a book I enjoyed reading, but it was sonething I feel as though had to be read. You cannot learn from the mistakes of the past, if you do not know what they are. Everyone deserves to tell their stories, unfortunately, some are more painful than others.
These books were hard to read emotional, but were written well. Full of description and fee...more
These books were hard to read emotional, but were written well. Full of description and fee...more
I don't think I've ever been as angry and appalled as i was when I read this book. When I originally read this book I was still a minor living with my mom, and I could not fathom the pain this little boy went through at the hands of his mother. I wanted to find her and throttle her for what she did to him. I was also disgusted by the adults that came across him- his "saviors", and thought that they should be in jail for their stupidity. No child deserves this type of treatment! I would recommend...more
Read "A child called It" when it was intially published and then re-read it as part of the triology. A truly moving and detailed story, it allows you to experience the pain that he went through and on certain pages, I was literally in tears at the sheer sadness of what I was reading. Some people may find it hard to read as the sheer cruelty is unbelievable - utterly astounded by the all the people who had let him down in his lifetime. Experienced feelings of sadness and anger that a human being...more
My Story is a book that you will not be able to put down. You will wake in the night, wanting to just read the next chapter (then the next, then the next!!). It is so tragic you can only wish that it weren't true. Anybody who has children will give them extra hugs while reading this book. It is the true story of a boy mentally and physically abused by his mother from the age of 4 until his rescue.
This is truly a story of bravery beyond imagination. It is hard to imagine a child going through thi...more
This is truly a story of bravery beyond imagination. It is hard to imagine a child going through thi...more
This book had me in disbelief, awe, angst..So many emotions. Horrified that a mother could actually go to that level cruelty with her child. But we read about what parents are capable of everyday in the news. I liked the first two books better than the third, but I couldn't have possibly rested without knowing what became of "Dave". It reaffirms my belief that you cannot play victim to your circumstances. No matter what you have been through, if you have survived, anything is possible. Do not pl...more
I recently read this series of books after I found the first one while I was shelving book at my son's school library. I couldn't put them down and I admittedly needed to get the next one as soon as I finished the one before. They were extremely disturbing and I think I was looking for better answers then what the book provided as to why a mother could treat her child this way and how an entire family and community could allow it to continue for as long as it did. I guess that because David neve...more
Jan 24, 2010
Yusra Zainab Laghari
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
those who think of quitting
It took a very long time for me to finish this book. Probably, because It was an exceedingly depressing book and the fact that it repeated a lot of things again and again. So much repetation made it hard for me to continue reading this book beyond 300 pages. I literally closed the book and didnot tough it for a month or so.
I have very mixed feelings for this book. No doubt, this book indeed helped in enhancing my knowledge and understanding of child abuse victims, but it arised several question...more
I have very mixed feelings for this book. No doubt, this book indeed helped in enhancing my knowledge and understanding of child abuse victims, but it arised several question...more
Noelle Ortegel
Ms. Rogal
Strategic Reading
18 November 2008
“A child named it”
By: Dave Pelzer
I believe that Dave Pelzer wrote the book “A child Named It” to let people know that ever day there is some child in this world getting emotionally, mentally, or physically abused. In this story there is a little boy who all he wants is to be loved by his mother, but yet she don’t love him she treats him like dirt, he is her slave. She’s drunk hurting him inside and out. Dave Pelzer intended this book for p...more
Ms. Rogal
Strategic Reading
18 November 2008
“A child named it”
By: Dave Pelzer
I believe that Dave Pelzer wrote the book “A child Named It” to let people know that ever day there is some child in this world getting emotionally, mentally, or physically abused. In this story there is a little boy who all he wants is to be loved by his mother, but yet she don’t love him she treats him like dirt, he is her slave. She’s drunk hurting him inside and out. Dave Pelzer intended this book for p...more
I agree with the previous review. This was on of the hardest books I had to read. Not because of the writting, but because of the content. The things this man had to go through as a child ripped at my heart. There was one point I actually had to stop reading for a while because I just felt awful for him.
While this isn't the regular type of book I read, I'm glad I did. While I may not run across a child in those circumstances to help, it makes me love and appreciate my son even more.
While this isn't the regular type of book I read, I'm glad I did. While I may not run across a child in those circumstances to help, it makes me love and appreciate my son even more.
Jun 08, 2007
Jamie
added it
A Boy Called It-I never got around to reading the other two books of his,but I decided I wanted to do that so I re-read the first one. Wow. I forgot how amazing this book was. I read it cover to cover today without putting it down once and I almost never do that. It was amazing and heart retching and terrifying to think that things like that really go on. An excellent book that EVERYONE should read and it's a really simple short read too.
The Lost Boy-This was just as good as the first. It explai...more
The Lost Boy-This was just as good as the first. It explai...more
I commend David for going through what he did and being able to relive it while writing a book but I found this read very loosely written. If you're interested in this mans story then I'd recommend it but if you're looking for a soul searching, self reflecting true story, I would not recommend. Its a documentary on his life as an abused child and what he endured but no real insight into how he got through it or how it effects his life now.
this was a good book because it explained how he went from a kid who was alone and who couldnt trust anyone to a man who had love for others and ended up having a son and a wife . in the book he had to be able to let go of his abusive past and mother . this was a hard goal for him to accomplish because in doing so he was taken advantage of by others so he felt that he could trust no one but his perspective on trust changes at the end of the book .
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!! If there is a book anybody should read it should be this one. Not for the faint-hearted though as some of the things this mother does to her child would be extremely sensitive to some readers as this book explicitly describes how she abuses her son. One cannot believe that somebody could be so cruel to their own child. This book does end on a very good note, though. A MUST read!!
I would highly recommend this book. It is a very depressing book that tells a story of a young boy that gets abused by his alcoholic mother. It was all about this author's childhood gone horrible with the extreme abuse, the torture and suffering. The author described everything he went through, all the pain he had to go through, how he felt and everything.This book was a hard one to read yet I couldn't put it down.
I can't finish this book... Not because of the brutality or any of that... This man forgave this woman for what she did? That's a joke, I won't finish this book because she did things that are
unforgivable, things she should've been imprisoned for... Imprisoned for life in fact... I also suspect religion may come into play so the whole thing has become a farce... Thanks for the suggestion friends but I think I'll pass on this one... Although David, I am very sorry for what you were put through......more
unforgivable, things she should've been imprisoned for... Imprisoned for life in fact... I also suspect religion may come into play so the whole thing has become a farce... Thanks for the suggestion friends but I think I'll pass on this one... Although David, I am very sorry for what you were put through......more
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An author best known for his 1995 memoir of childhood abuse, A Child Called It.
At the age of 12, Dave was removed from an abusive home and placed in a series of foster homes. In 1979, he joined the Air Force and later became an author of memoirs and self-improvement books.
More about Dave Pelzer...
At the age of 12, Dave was removed from an abusive home and placed in a series of foster homes. In 1979, he joined the Air Force and later became an author of memoirs and self-improvement books.
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“That day I vowed to myself that I would never, ever again give that bitch the satisfaction of hearing me beg her to stop beating me.”
—
12 people liked it
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