I first read "Bobby Rex" some 12 years ago at the tender age of 12. At that time, it was one of the first non-classic grown-up books I'd read, and I found myself unable to believe that someone could capture such simplicity and depth in single sentences. I loved the book so much I even stole a copy of it from the local library (don't worry, i've more than payed for it in overdue fines throughout the years) because I couldn't stand the thought that someone else would check it out and never return it. But I digress... Why is it such a beautiful book? Because it speaks sweet, insightful and often hilarious volumes without falling all over itself the way so many writers do these days. It's the sort of book you read and then sit back and think, God, I could write that... because it's just like someone relating stories to you. Its the tale of a young girl, Pally Thompson, who over the course of 3 or 4 years discovers the truths and myths about those people with whom she surrounds herself. -- Marianne Gingher does an absolutely brilliant job of painting smalltown lives and loves during the latter part of the 1950's. She treats her characters, all of them (even those who may not deserve it) with respect and dignity. Never sacrificing even a single word, she allows her characters to grow and breathe and, perhaps most importantly, to learn. "Bobby Rex" is a novel of discovery. Rich and honest and oozing with charm.

I found this book amazingly trite. To me, most of the episodes sounded like they came out of a Hallmark TV movie. Furthermore, her memoirs were so boring! To write an autobiography, surely your life should have been more interesting than this? Ms. Gingher has had a nice life and through the book it is obvious that she is very pleased with it. Her life, however does not merit an entire book nor the reader's time.

This is the first time I've felt compelled to write my opinion on Amazon. I really enjoyed this book - and when I read the review by 'a reader from Atlanta, GA.' I thought for sure it had to be written by some malcontent... I laughed to think it might have been the author's ex? Or his wife?

Why can't "we" allow someone to remain positive in their attitude towards life even though they perhaps have made wrong decisions, or happen to have the misfortune of being "born lucky" ;-) Why can't "we" allow someone to just share things at face value without dissecting them and rearranging them and putting them back together in a gruesome pattern?

Yes there was and is racism in America. Yes death and discomfort is a part of life. The author acknowledges all of this, and does a good job of explaining how difficult it is for a child to witness the incongruities of life, and yet still "get on with it".

I was born in Michigan in 1956. I was not as lucky as the author, in that my parents were divorced when I was two, but many of the things she spoke of reminded me of my childhood and how there was no shame in being simple at that time. I appreciated her ability to write about events in such a way as to truly carry me back to that time.

I suppose 'a reader' would prefer a story where the author undergoes hypnotherapy and all her ills can be traced back to a sexual molestation from her childhood that never occurred? But then, that book has already been written! Many times!

This is simply a nice book. To me, it shows Gingher as someone who definitely knows the gentle art of story-telling.

This charming account of life warmed me, mostly because Gingher writes it in the moment. She is able to capture the untainted memories, the way she first experienced them, as if she keeps them wrapped in paper in a cedar chest. She allows us to see her shift as she becomes older, lay a more seasoned view on her experiences as her life progresses, and I love how her earliest tales are told as she probably told them back then. I found her accounts believable and beyond intersting, her details startlingly fresh, all tinged with humor. A happy childhood is not an unfulfilling one - it is filled with risks, heartbreak, and danger because this is the nature of all human life. Gingher has chronicled such a life and does so with such style that I marveled as much at her description and control as I did the stories themselves. This is a treasure.

The syrupy sappiness in this book was truly unbearable. Gingher's writing style is corny beyond belief, and I felt manipulated by the "happy"(true? ) stories she recounted.

I have Ms. Gingher's other works, and while they are certainly not Dickens, they aren't nearly as embarrassing and difficult to get through as this sentimental, manipulative example of a freshman creative writing student. Ms. Gingher clearly has spent too much time studying the fiction in airport shops to gain inspiration for this work.

I agree with the reviewers above with my whole heart. This is a warm deeply moving book by an obvious Christian. In an age when "sickness" is thought to be "cute", this book is a real breath of "fresh air", and Miss Gingher is threefold blessed. If it were not so short for the cost, I would have given it more stars.