I received this book as a ninth birthday present and absolutely fell in love with it. I read it many times over the years when I was younger but had the misfortune to misplace it during a move. It had such an impact on me even as a child and a young adult that I found it imperative to find another copy so that I may pass along some of its magic to the next generation. I hope that my own children enjoy it as much as I did.

The book is labeled "A Fable for Adults," but I think an intelligent, perceptive child of nine and up would get a lot out of it too. I would highly recommend that elementary-school librarians introduce any real-life Victorias in their school to this book. It could help them feel less alone.

I first read this book in 1981 after a visit to the library, and haven't been able to find it anywhere since. I was prompted to look for it on the Internet because of a letter to a children's advice column I read last week. The parent was distressed by her 4-year-old's imaginary playmates and wondered how she could get him to "act normal". Thank God that she was advised to let him be his own wonderful, imaginative self. Victoria At Nine showed the tyranny of forcing children to conform to our own ideas of normalcy. Victoria was a very intelligent, imaginative child, and talking to her stuffed animals helped her make sense of the confusing, frightening adult world in which she lived. As I was reading, the animals seemed real to me, too. Her parents' desperate attempts to get her to conform; to "be more normal" were cruel and terrible, including forcing her to bury her stuffed friends in the back yard. I was riveted by this book and have never forgotten it. I was very surprised to see that it is out of print. I now have a beautiful child of my own, and encourage his imagination and creative spirit. This book is a must for parents. Victoria At Nine is a very special, memorable book indeed.

The third and best of the Morris Bird III books. It speaks of his life as a teenager, trying to become an adult but ultimately frustrated by his impending and wrenching death. I can understand why some feel that it is a disappointing book: the protagonist dies at the end. Yet, I found the conclusion to be logical and humane. Somehow, this is how Morris Bird III had to end. To have grown to adulthood would have been a disappointment both to him and to me as a reader.

This book truly needs to be read in sequence to capture the full flavor of Morris. Read alone it tends to isolates Morris and you lose much of his wonderful character as detailed in Sliced Bread. Read in context it is a heartbreaking end to a simple yet complex character. Even if you aren't able to read in sequence I would recommend highly, Mr. Robertson does an amazing job creating a character that will touch you and stay with you always, as he has for me nearly 25 years later.

Does anyone remember Omar Tipton, the soldier with the cleft palate, face down in the woods, injured, sucking in wet dirt and leaves? This book prompted me to visit Antietam!

As someone who is appalled by the passive learning and hypocricy inherent and unchallenged in our educational system this book was an INSPIRATION to me. I found a copy several years ago at a thrift store in Chicago and among other things the book inspired me to create a radical student action committee at Teachers College Columbia University (oh let's just say they HATED me at TC). This book is the incredible account of two "hippy" sociology professors who challeneged the ENTIRE educational system and attempted to create classes that fostered "active" relevant and meaninful learning for their students. They refused to assign grades to assignments and generally ruffled LOTS of feathers! At one point, one of the co-authors publicly burned his doctoral dissertaion instead of handing it in. The best part of the book is the account of how they responded to then Governor Ronald Reagan's attempts to censor a work of nude student sculpture. The authors created a class called "The Myth of Obscenity" in which they set up three projectors: one showing a police training film, one showing a 7th grade sex education film and another showing a porno film - these images were projected side by side for their students while live naked models approximated the poses of the nude sculptures that Reagan had banned from campus. Needless to say, they were canned shortly thereafter. What an INCREDIBLE little book! If you can find this at your library or Salvation Army store or here at Amazon - PLEASE read this book!

Dan Gauss

I told my husband about this book tonight. I read this while working in a bookstore as a senior in high school; I graduated in 1976. Awesome book! I agree with the existing comments above; I fell in love with the characters and especially Howard Amberson, who just tried to get through life with his integrity intact, and for the most part suceeded. A truly timeless, unforgettable work.

From a person who always has at least three books going at one time, (book on tape in my car, one in my hand bag, and one on my night stand) I have my all-time top ten favorite books. I first got this book from the Library in the 80's and tried desperatly to find it to buy and I couldn't. So I am embarrassed to say it is the only book I have ever purposely kept and paid for from a Library. It is also one of the few books I have reread many times. It is one of the most REAL books I have ever read. It made me laugh, it made me cry. It gave me a whole different perspective on relationships and all the stages one goes through in a realtionship that lasts a lifetime. ANY one who loves to
read should read this book. It will be one you will never forget.

I selected this book only because it took place in Ohio - and mentioned several areas that I was familliar with. Well, imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a beautiful love story of an elderly couple. To sound cliche - I laughed and I cried while reading this - and I think you will too.

After looking for years in every used bookstore for this title, I gave up. When I checked Amazon I discovered a number of other reviewers who held similar fondness for this book. My high school sweetheart had read this book and recommended it for the realistic view of a young boy's life. In fact, for a time, that sweetheart was my husband. We have long parted company, but the book has stayed with me in my heart. As I read review after review, the details of the long-ago story came flooding back to me. (See other reviews for details.) Enjoy the adventure-it is well worth your time.

The story deals with a six year old going to visit a friend who has moved across the city. It simply climbs into his head and sees the world from the point of view of a real child. It is sad, even tragic, but ultimately possesses a bittersweet reality that is compelling. I first read it almost twenty five years ago and somehow it has always stayed with me.

I read this book, at my mother's suggestion, when I was eleven. I have never forgotten Morris Bird the eye-eye-eye. I have been searching for this book for the last eight years and am waiting like a five year old at Christmas for it to arrive so that I can at last be reunited with a most beloved character. I would also strongly recommend reading the other Morris books to follow through his life.

This book should be among the classics, not the out of print. It's full of vulgar language and vulgar acts, but it is also raw and real. This novel is complex and poignant. And will have you thinking about a great many things once your able to put it down. I bought this book because I found out Robertson is one of Stephen King's favorites. It's easy to see the influence in style. I've ordered two more out of print Robertson novels and eagerly await their arrival. Robertson is a modern genius. I'm still trying to figure out why he's out of print. This guy should be read in the colleges of America. Robertson can outwrite Don DeLillo any day of the week. And I like DeLillo.

I, too, first became acquainted with Don Robertson via a second-hand bookstore bargain... and I admit I only picked it up because it had a foreword by Stephen King. Once I got past King's effusive praise and guarantee that I would "never read a book like this. Never." I became totally hooked on Don Robertson. This book really IS like nothing I've ever read. His characters are dowdy and dumpy and troubled and fat and maybe not the most dazzlingly brilliant people you could read about, but who wants to do that?

This book stayed in the back of my mind for months. I started reading all of Robertson's books in order, and while they differ widely in plot, setting, point of view etc., his basic techinique is usually there: there are good people and bad people and the good people suffer but the bad people get theirs in the end. Robertson writes a morality play but because he doesn't make his good people TOO virtuous, you are always surprised by what happens. The conclusion to The Ideal, Genuine Man was completely believable and true to life, although certainly extremely unsettling.

In short, I can't say enough about this brilliant and talented man, and I must wonder as well: why are these books out of print? You can still get copies of A Confederacy of Dunces and Catcher in the Rye. Don Robertson's work should be required reading in all Freshman Lit. classes!

P.S. I loathe having to read a 40 year old library book with 40 year old drips and stains and suspicious blots on them. Ick.

Don Robertson is a master whose characters are clearly drawn and completely life-like. You will hate to see yourself revealed in characters whose actions are despicable. The religious analogies are intriguing. This is a very memorable book, not as lighthearted as The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread. Trying to understand a mother who kills her children, seeing yourself or people you know revealed in the family's and the townspeople's reactions, leads to deep thoughts and searching questions

This is one of the more amazing books I have read. It's the story of two groups of Confederate soldiers just before the surrender in April, 1865 and how they eventually meet, but that synopsis doesn't really explain what it's about. I suppose it's really about war and its dehumanizing and maddening effects. Deliberately transgressive, this book will offend many, but its sexual and violent themes are there for a reason and not simply to be shocking. Robertson writes in a tumble of words, at his best resembling McCarthy, occasionally slipping over into the purple. Some of the characters engage one's sympathies and some inspire disgust, but they are all quite well drawn with believable internal voices. There are a few minor historical errors but nothing really damaging. It will come as no surprise that Prisoners of Twilight does not have a happy ending (after finishing it I stared blankly into space for ten minutes and then picked up a first-person account of the war on the grounds that it was much more cheerful), but it is a significant novel and very much worth reading.

The book deals with the years between the first of the three books in this series, "The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread" and acts more as a passage between them, explaining Morris Bird III's family. It is relationship driven but important to understand the entirety of Morris' character. Very important to read it in order.

I recently listened to The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread, and have now read The Sum and Total Of Now. Once I got used to the books (on audiotape) I liked them. Morris Bird III is a sympathetic young man, and I liked the way the setting was described. I felt that the novels use of the child's viewpoint was interesting. The roots of many of our problems often lie in childhood, and we see one person develop as he is shaped by his environment (filled with grown- up children).It was hard to hear Morris' grand- mother's suffering described, but this is a very honest novel.