Twixt Twelve and Twenty

by Pat Boone

...

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help

172 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give this book 5 stars simply because it is so CHEESETASTIC!

I collect books for teens and preteens from the 1930s-1960s. Advice books on dating and hygiene are my favorite! I also love pulp novels of all kinds and chapter books like Cherry Ames and Sue Barton books.

So this book is a true find for me. I love it. I love to pick it up and hold it, feel it's tiny weight, look at the 1950s graphics, and read the achingly horrendous "advice" that good ole Pat give to "the teen-age" about dating and love.

You cannot read a paragraph of this book without busting out into laughter. The best part -- it's not a comedy! He was serious. Some agent got him this deal, some manager told him he could make money on it, some ghostwriter interviewed him and wrote this up, got paid and did not get a credit.

And some people actually bought it! Pat Boone actually had enough fans to make producing this book worthwhile. Some people possibly read it!

I just LOVE this book.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was actually published in 1958. I read it shortly thereafter.

At a time the second most popular male singer in America (behind Elvis), Boone never forgot his roots or his faith. This autobiography describes growing up in a family hurt badly by the Depression.

I assume Boone had help writing it, though I don't remember any credit given. Well conceived and told.

A good read.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a really hard time selecting a shelf for this one ~ considered making up a whole new category, because it really does stand alone from all other books.

It's hard to believe anyone took this book seriously. Gives a lot of hilarious insight into Pat Boone as he gives advice to teens about life and love. It's so difficult to sum up all of the cheese in this book with a short review. For example, Boone writes of when he first began to consider his highschool "steady" as wife material. He began seeing her as, "not merely someone to kiss under a full moon but to love and cherish even with a runny nose." He also admits to his mom bending him over the bathtub & spanking him when he was seventeen!!

Reading this book is equivalent to eating an entire cheeseball... but not nearly as filling. (Doubly constipating, though.)

[Kathy]

I got this book when I was 12 , I am now 73. It actually reflected the mores of the times. Young ladies were not really told much about sex, and if they got pregnant, they went to visit an "aunt" in another state for a school year. We can now look back and think how stupid our parents were. Just because many didn't talk about sex, didn't mean it wasn't happening. I was at a boarding school where I'm sure my mother thought it was far enough away from boys, that I would be safe from s-e-x. I was, but one of the older girls still managed to get pregnant in her senior year. This is probably a good book for kids who parents don't talk about pre-marital sex, feelings and prevention and reality. It certainly is not for the teens of today.

[Erika Mulvenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why does Pat Boone feel it necessary to give advice to teenagers???

[Karla Martinsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eat dessert first, Pat said to!

[Strawberry Witch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean. I almost want to give this a higher rating just for the cheese factor. Someone in another review said this was ghostwritten, but I honestly think he wrote it himself. It’s just that bad.

I’m a fan of his daughter Cherry’s memoir of her anorexia, so it was interesting to hear him talk about how he and his wife were raising their children, knowing that his oldest was going to have some serious issues later in life, pretty much totally because of the way she was raised. He’s super super religious and I admit I skipped over all that crap.

There was a lot of bullshit (Teenagers should drink 3-4 glasses of milk a day? Seriously?), but also some decent advice (teenagers should spend some time alone occasionally so they can think; make a list of goals and stick to them, etc). I don’t think it would have done me harm to read this as a 12-13 year old.

[Janice Robinson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Isn't there a part in this book where the big hunk of noisily Christian, clean-cut white bread we call Pat Boone attempts to convince his twixt twelve and twenty readers that they shouldn't marry young, all the while confessing that he himself married young and then attempting to explain why it was different for him? Nuff said.

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

What can I say?! Read as a teen-ager and Pat Boone fan. Have since come to my senses.

[Fran · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was a Christmas present, 1958. It's all still good advice whether you're 12, 20, or eligible for a Medicare card!