A Boy Named Shel: The Life and Times of Shel Silverstein by Lisa Rogak Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of A Boy Named Shel: The Life and Times of Shel Silverstein
Book Review: A little piece of Shel pie
Summary: 4 Stars
It was warm and tasty. To attempt to unravel Shel would be a fools challenge. Lisa is only half a fool but I enjoyed that half quite a bit.Book Review: Good Research Does not a Good Book Make
Summary: 2 Stars
As soon as I saw the biography of one of my favorite artists on the shelf, I knew I had to take it home with me. Four days after I had the pleasure of starting this book I am relieved to be through with it.
Lisa Rogak's biography is well-researched, that no one can deny. Unfortunately this fact is made very obvious by her constant reliance on quoting her interviews making the book seem more like an magazine article then a full-length biography. Further to the point, after reading less than halfway through the book I began to feel like Ms. Rogak was regurgitating the same descriptive lines (even going as far as using the same syntax) to describe reasoning for different events. Surely, certain personal characteristics stay similar throughout a person's life, but to use the same syntax and employ the same tropes (to give one example: "...nothing in his life could have prepared Shel for the tragedy that would follow..." at least three times, in those very words) is plain lazy on the part of a writer.
Shel Silverstein lived an exciting life, was clearly a complex character, and a beautiful artist. It's too bad my initial thrill at the discovery of this biography quickly dissipated when I realized that its author was simply not up to the task of writing a book to match the complexity of its subject. A good biographer is supposed to make a life seem like an exciting plot, constantly opening up new approaches to its' subject; in this the author failed. Lisa Rogak's "A Boy Named Shel" was more like a chronology interspersed by interview excerpts than a self-containing biography. The only reason I waded through the bad writing was my overwhelming interest in Shel Silverstein and the book's paltry length.
I know there are a couple of other biographies of Shel Silverstein in existence, my hope is that they are better than this one.
Not recommended.
Book Review: An Artistic Soul -- Shel Silverstein
Summary: 4 Stars
Through her in depth research and heartfelt quotes from many familiar celebrities and business associates who knew and respected (or, in some cases, tolerated) Shel Silverstein, Lisa Rogak has truly captured this unique and quirky character who has entertained young and old for decades with pictures, poems and lyrics. As a longtime fan of Shel's work -- primarily his music -- I was amazed at the number of artistic genres the man navigated during his life, as well as his prolific body of work. The book reveals his solitary childhood and the adversity he faced in attempting to follow his dream, which ultimately took him around the world and into the hearts of millions. I rarely read biographies, but this was one I could not put down. As soon as I finished it, I bought "Where the Sidewalk Ends" for my granddaughter for Christmas (which I admit to reading before wrapping!). Rogak's work reveals Shel's creative genius and will ultimately attract many new fans to his amazing legacy. It's a must read for every songwriter and highly recommended for all art lovers.
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