3 responses to “The End of Boys by Peter Brown Hoffmeister”

  1. L. Paterson

    It’s unfortunate that this book is getting the praise that it does. I understand that the author needs to tell a compelling story but to flat out lie is poor form. Eugene is a very small town and people that grew up there are well aware of Mr. Hoffmeister and his story. What they’re also aware of is the fact that he embelishes and lies about a lot of detail in this book. Shame on him for making money off of dragging other people through the mud.

    1. Grew Up In Eugene

      I am curious as to what anecdotes you claim are untrue. Please elaborate.

  2. Lynne

    I just finished this book. I don’t know about the factual elements (re: Paterson comment), but I fail to see the redemption in this story that the reviews seem to promise. It reads like a catharsis that perhaps was needed by someone who endured such trauma, but the ending is abrupt and dissatisfying. The afterword tells me that he has recovered and found a good life after such trauma, but the story fails to include how that happened. There is no reflection or insight into what he makes of those experiences now, or how he learned or what he learned through these intensely difficult years.

    In addition, I did not feel connected to him as a character through much of the work either. Although I did keep hoping that *something* good would happen for him eventually, the few things that apparently fall into this category are only tacked on in a final chapter. The teacher who gave him books was apparently a great inspiration to him; yet she gets about five paragraphs total. I wanted more of how he got out of such a difficult period….. and felt disappointed to go through such anguish with him, to not experience more of the goodness that apparently he has discovered since.

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