am currently purchasing books for our secondary school library for our senior students. I am trying to provide a balance of genres and periods and really try and introduce them to a wide range of modern fiction and non-fiction. This book would definitely go down well with a hypercritical teenage audience as it has a bit of everything - great insights and a narrative style that draws you in and keeps you reading whilst also making you think about a wide range of issues at the same time. I think that school libraries are definitely changing and that the book we purchase should provide for all tastes and reflect the types of books that the students and staff go on to enjoy after leaving school. TBWTPN is the kind of book that you can curl up with and totally immerse yourself in and I think it will definitely go down well at my school. I think that it was the perfect blend of A page-turning read with a strong narrative voice too! I think it would be a big hit with our seniors and will definitely recommend that we buy a copy as soon as we can.

To be honest, I believe I was initially attracted to this memoir because of both the excellent cover and the excellent title (which is, apparently, a line from a song).

My lack of knowledge about the title is indicative of how very many of the musical references I failed to understand or relate to. I did, at least, better recognize many of the literary references and discussions.

Although none of that really matters.

Because if you've loved a particular artists or song or author or novel, you'll recognize Caveney's endearing obsessions.

And here is where I suspect many reviewers would write, But that's not what this book is really about.

But I hesitate to declare that. You'll know from the synopsis - or if that's not clear enough to you - very early on in the book that that the steel and eviscerating thread through the narrative is that as a child Caveney was sexually assaulted by a man who was his headmaster, mentor, and priest. Caveney doesn't mince words in the least about his experiences and I love this; the brutality is necessary for the reader to truly understand what happened. It's true that this is the startling part, the darkest part.

One, however, shouldn't fail to notice the richness of how the music in particular (fortunately, the music was wholly separated from his experience with his abuser, whereas his interest in the literature was a tool his abuser used to groom him) was solace and motivation for Caveney to understand that the tiny mill village he grew up in wasn't the entire world.

I haven't requested or accepted many ARCs in recent months - this is, in fact, the only one currently on my docket (advanced copy provided by Simon & Schuster). I circled around this one for several months, so tempted by the description and other advanced reviews. I finally gave in and have been very pleased that I did.

I was most surprised by the wicked humor. It's all quite dark, sometimes centered around the sexual abuse but most often centered around his relationship with his parents and the community in which he grew up. This was actually my favourite element and I was disappointed that it tapered down as the book neared the end, but what can one expect, given the overall subject matter?

Certainly one of my favourite memoirs in my recent reading history.

Brutally honest, shocking to the point of having to cover my eyes when reading but ground breakingly funny at the same time.

Not my type of book and according to the storyline not what
I expected, could not get into the book.