A friend loaned me this several months ago, but it didn't really appeal. I finally decided I couldn't put off reading it any longer, so started it on a train journey to London today.How wrong I was. By the time we pulled into Paddington, I was resentful that I'd have to put it down to get to my hotel. And the same again when I had to go and grab something to eat!Enjoyable is not the right word, and it's about a family situation about as far from my own as it's possible to get.But the book is compelling, and written in a very conversational style. I really wanted to know what was going to happen next. This book is about Mikey a gypsy boy living with a father who wants him to be a boxer and bare knuckle fights, to be tough like all the other boys around him. Mikey, however, doesn’t live up to this fathers expectations and this more of a coming to age and life realizations for himself than a book about the gypsy culture. This does not mean that you still don’t get a vivid picture of what is going on in the culture during this time because you do and he does a really great job of painting a picture of exactly what is happening in his life at this time.I really enjoyed the book, though my three stars may not reflect that. The only reason that I gave it three stars was I thought there was a lot shoveled in during the last part of the book. I thought that there could have been a little bit more added, like the rest of the book, to continue to paint that picture.This book was really good though and I think if you do have an interest in the gypsy life this does give you a little “insider information” to the culture and lifestyle of this group of people.
What do You think about Gypsy Boy (2009)?
3.5 Mixed feelings on this. Well written, but at times it drones on and on and I ended up skimming.
—noahbrewer
Good voice and plot moves swiftly. Some grim scenes though with child abuse.
—Embabc18
A glimpse into the life of a boy growing up as a gypsy, true story.
—password
