“Dwight kept on babbling on about the virtues of Concrete but all I could think about was shooting that turkey”. This boy’s life is a masterful memoir piece written by Tobias Wolff, it is written through the point of view of Toby who represents Tobias Wolff as a child. The novel explores the truth of a child’s childhood. At times Toby can be an unreliable narrator; the reader might doubt some of the stories from this young anarchic live wire. Although the memoir is written through the point of view of a child there are certain scenes where the true voice of the author comes out. This is especially evident when Toby sees his mother come home crying and cuddles her but says nothing. Wolff is fantastic at portraying his different relationships and although it is a memoir it almost feels that the novel is more of a diary due to how realistic and clear everything seems. What makes this memoir special is that the reader can relate to things that are going on in Toby’s childhood, not wanting to do homework, obsession with guns and fighting and the most relatable the want to be “cool”. Toby shows the effects of his parents getting divorced, his constant want to keep his mother by his side and finally and most importantly his struggle of going from a simple “spoiled” boy to a complex “work-hard” man.
This memoir is guaranteed to make you laugh and cry, there will be moments where you will feel an urge to put down the book because it seems almost like what happened to you. Go buy the book and bathe yourself in this touching story and if you are still not satisfied watch the movie because both of them will open your eyes to the truth of growing up.