Details Based On Books A Rock and a Hard Place: One Boy's Triumphant Story
| Title | : | A Rock and a Hard Place: One Boy's Triumphant Story |
| Author | : | Anthony Godby Johnson |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 304 pages |
| Published | : | June 1st 1994 by Signet (first published 1993) |
| Categories | : | Nonfiction. Autobiography. Memoir |
Anthony Godby Johnson
Paperback | Pages: 304 pages Rating: 3.58 | 184 Users | 21 Reviews
Relation To Books A Rock and a Hard Place: One Boy's Triumphant Story
I bought this from a library sale, knowing it for what it was (a fake) before I handed over my dollar, due to things I'd read about it online. I bought it as a curiosity.For the most part, it's what you'd expect from a fraud exposed as an adult pretending to be a child - overly verbose, almost sagely 'wise', full of framing context that would be fine in a novel or an older person's biography but seems anachronistic in a book that is supposedly by a fourteen-year-old - and a fourteen-year-old deprived of pop culture for the majority of his life, at that. There is very little substance at all. There are a lot of words, strung one after the other, but compared to other child memoirs I've read, the feel is all wrong. The book is a series of essays, but instead of defining moments, they're retrospectives on his entire relationships with people. It's not a style that makes much sense for a book that is supposed to focus on the intersection between HIV/AIDS and child abuse and sell based on that. Instead, the book revolves around the myth of Anthony, the phantom child, whose abuse is never detailed, whose adoption is somehow processed in the tiny amount of time between calling the authorities and his release from hospital, and who somehow immediately bonds with his new family despite a lifetime without any human kindness. It's a confection of lies to feed one woman's conceit. And the shame of it is, some of the things said in the latter half were sorely needed at the time: a plea to shift from blame to unconditional care and treatment for all people living with HIV/AIDS, a heartfelt urging to stop blaming gay men for paedophila, and a need for the end of the myth and deification of the 'innocent' AIDS patient. I have no doubt these arguments were cribbed and regurgitated wholesale from the writings of other people - Paul Monette's book is mentioned several times - but it's the only section of the book that reads genuinely, not like fiction. In that moment, it's not a fraud, but a child (not real, but his words could be spoken by any of the actual kids living with HIV/AIDS in the early nineties) sitting on that barely contained impotent fury that characterised much of the activism of the time - we're here, we're dying, while you try and decide which of us deserves to live and which 'earned' this sickness. It's a moment of truth in a pack of lies, even if it is only a reflection of someone else's pain.
Describe Books As A Rock and a Hard Place: One Boy's Triumphant Story
| Original Title: | A Rock and a Hard Place: One Boy's Triumphant Story |
| ISBN: | 0451181859 (ISBN13: 9780451181855) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Rating Based On Books A Rock and a Hard Place: One Boy's Triumphant Story
Ratings: 3.58 From 184 Users | 21 ReviewsRate Based On Books A Rock and a Hard Place: One Boy's Triumphant Story
I don't know if it is just me knowing that this book is a hoax or just the way I read it but it seemed to me that every story had a moral to it, a poor mans Chicken Soup for the Soul bookDon't get me wrong, I love the Chicken Soup books, this book just doesn't seem right to me.However, if this book was a true account, then it would horrific to think that parents could do such things to their own child, but I am glad that he got his happy endingThis particular book tells the story of a boy who was severely abused by his biological parents, his reaching out for help, receiving it, and his discovery that he has AIDS. Looking at various websites to learn the fate of Tony, my husband and I discovered that there is quite a controversy about whether or not Tony is a fictional character, created by his adoptive mother. Is this book a hoax? As I began to read it, doubts drifted into my thoughts that a 14 year old could write so well, but then,
Needing inspiration or to feel better about your own situation? This is the book for you. Though if you are a right-wing Republican, this may not be the best book choice. This read is appreciated by the enlightened.
A hard story of a person who lives in abuse as a child, goes to a home where love is given, and finds after all the trauma, they now have aids. It's considered a triumphant story, mostly out of coping through adversity, and continuing to face life head on, but in reality it is a very sad story of desperately needing a love and acceptance almost too late for it's young victim
I found this book in Barcelona in the English language section and was surprised at how profoundly uplifiting the writing of a 14 year old boy who had been raped and abused all his life was.This was obviously an enlightened being who had been put here to teach. His mom was obviously quite violently mental ill and his own father was too depressed to protect his own son.
I agree with the other reviewers that any book that lies about being non-fiction, like The Education of Little Tree, is awful. I have the uncorrected proof and there are a lot of errors that should have flagged the publishers and others that this was fake. The biggest error is that the narrator (Tony) often erroneously refers to his best friend, David, as Pete. I was amazed at the worldliness of this teen boy and could not help myself from reading other reviews thinking, "wow, this kid is just
I learned a lot from this book made me cry a bucket. it showed much on the value of friendship, & how to be the best posituve person that you ever could be. it made me thankful for everything that God gave me.
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