Customer Reviews (1)

The Fitzgeralds grown older
After the death of Papa, and with the children mostly grown and moving on with their own lives, Mamma decides to take on boarders, not only to support herself but to keep busy.John is the only one left at home and he changes his plans of going away to school to stay and help his mother.This is a collection of his stories/memories of that time, one or two of which I think are also told (although a bit differently) in his other books.And this one explains why you won't find Adenville on any maps (if it ever existed, that is).

For those who love "The Great Brain" series by J. D. Fitzgerald, this is more of the same sweet stories, although a bit more grown-up.The boys all get married in the course of the stories, but only J. D. (who is telling the stories) is mentioned much.Mostly the stories revolve around Mamma and her boarders.Earnest Dawson, the orphan taken in by the Fitzgeralds, and Uncle Will and Uncle Mark are also prominent.But without the children's perspective, the stories don't have the same "youthful" feel as "The Great Brain" or "Papa Married a Mormon," and the story-telling sometimes feels a bit "wooden."This is not to say it's not good or worth reading, just that it's different from those earlier books and doesn't have the same feel or level of humor.Still, a wonderful book to read.. if you can find it! ... Read more

Product Description
Family reminiscences of mother's boarders in Utah town of Adenville. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Author Info Mama's Boarding House
John D. Fitzgerald produced a bibliography of over three hundred publications; yet in Utah where he was born, the literary community has rarely commented on his work. Because his books appeal chiefly to children, they are basically unknown to the state's over-thirty citizens, most of whom wrongly associate his name with the writer of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald. At his passing in May 1988, only an obituary in the Salt Lake Tribune acknowledged the event. Yet to thousands of readers in the United States, England, and Germany he is a well known author. The Great Brain character in Fitzgerald's series for children is as familiar as Tom Sawyer to these young people.

To relax in the evenings Fitzgerald began Papa Married a Mormon as a family history about his boyhood. He said, "I was dumbfounded when it was accepted by Prentice-Hall and even more dumbfounded when it became a best seller." In the tradition of the culture it depicted, five trunks of souvenirs, carefully labeled by his mother, formed the basis of the book. Its creation was a tribute to her. Possibly critics of Mormon literature find it difficult go give importance to what some have labeled as a family memoir.
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Product Description
Here's the bestselling guide that teaches aspiring novelists how to employ the 14 structural elements common to all novels. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Very helpful book
This is an excellent book but is really about the planning and execution of a novel rather than fixing what is broken. It makes reference to and analyzes some well known novels and you have to read them to get the most out of the book. Is quite technical and practical and is oriented toward serious writers as opposed to touchy-feely. I think that I read it twice and got alot out of it. Structuring Your Novel

A great starting point for writers
Certainly if you have little writing experience or skill you will need more than just this book. But you have the talent and desire, but not the discipline, then you'll want this book. I put my amorphous novel idea through almost every chapter and by the end, it had solidified into a detailed outline.

The other great thing about this book is that if you can be truly honest with yourself, you will find out quickly whether your idea can stand on its own as a novel, which beats finding out 400 pages later.

Okay, but be careful
First, this book is not about structuring your novel.It is a general book on fiction writing.Second, it is very basic, for beginning writers only.That said, if you are just starting out, this book has it over the other beginning books in that, at least, it says what it has to say and doesn't beat around the bush.If you need a cookbook approach, this is it.
It is very brief.Also, its format is to say what it has to say in bold characters, then repeat the same thing in a couple of paragraphs, as though you were hard of hearing or as though teaching a class of bored students whose minds may have been wandering when he said it the first time.For instance: "The protagonist in a novel can be singular (just the main character) or plural (more than one of the leading characters)." (p.11)Then, just in case that statement was too difficult for you, he spells it out in the next half-page.And so it goes."To set the stage for the basic conflict..., place the protagonist in conflict with his own environment or the environment of others." (p.14)Again, a half page to repeat that.In other words, you can get all there is in the book just from reading the statements in bold print.That way, you can finish the book in one hour.
All this might be safe enough, except that some of these bold statements are debatable.For instance: "The basic conflict cannot be developed or sustained unless the author exaggerates the reaction of the protagonist to the stimulus of the environment." (p.20)"The event...that starts the chain of causally related events may or may not be presented in the first chapter." (p.128)Beware of such advice unless you have a good friend who is an acquisitions editor!
The author touches all the bases: idea, conflict, plot, viewpoint, theme, exposition, description, narration and action, characterization, symbolism.He also has two brief chapters on "craftsmanship" in which we are told to "Make every word count" (p.164)and that "The motivation of everything a character says and does in a novel must be established in the reader's mind." (p.158)And in a chapter on style we are told that "Style in novel writing cannot be taught." (.p.187)
As long as you go on to read several other beginning books on fiction writing and take many of the proclamations with a grain of salt, it might be safe to read this book.Certainly, it will get you started quickly.

THE book for writers who need direction
Ever sat in front of the blank page or screen with an idea mulling around and thought GEE WHIZ where do I go from here?
This book guides you out of the mire and through to the safe haven of the goal.
Onward through the fog!

One of the best books on writing I've ever read
I was so happy to learn today that this book is still in print as I have had occasion over the years to recommend it to many, many fiction writers I have coached in the writing of their novels.I first read it more than 20 years ago, and in pulling it down from my shelf I find that it still seems to me to have exceptionally clear explanations of point of view -- a hard concept for many first-time writers to get right -- and of theme -- a nebulous but important concept.If you want to master fictional technique, study this book.One of the best investments of time and money you could make! - Marcia Yudkin, Writing Coach and Author of 11 Books, ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Love the series
Book came as advertised. Thanks - great series. Recommended to kids of all ages. Nostalgic for me as I read it with my kids.

The cost of being a swindler
Fitzgerald puts out yet another good book in the Great Brain series with the Great Brain Reforms.It details a few more of T.D.'s swindles, and builds up to the point where the rest of the kids in town hate him.When he risks two of the kids' lives for thirty cents, they realize that it has gone too far.They hold a mock court meeting, and convict the Great Brain of swindling everyone in town, and as punishment every kid in town refuses to speak to him for a whole year.The Great Brain promises to reform, so they agree to talk to him as long as he stays reformed.Definitely an interesting and humerous read.

Overall grade:A-

You'll Hate this Kid; You'll Love this Kid
Young Tom Fitzgerald is the "Great Brain" because he is always outsmarting the other kids in town and taking their money--or baseball glove, bat, air rifle...you name it!All the kids hate him: He's a swindler, blackmailer, crook, and an attempted murderer, according to them.In other words, "The Great Brain" is an all-around rotten kid.Yet, Tom doesn't consider himself a bad guy at all--just smart.Though he is a number-one con man, he does do some good things; and all his schemes--good and bad--are clever to read about.Far from a dull book!

[ASIN:1587365219: Submitted by the author of A Non-Workbook, Non-Textbook Approach to Teaching Language Arts: Grades 4 Through 8 and Up]

The Behavior that Drives Reform
Once again the Great Brain aka TD manages to swindle his friends out of money by being smart enough to bet on a sure thing, but words it in such a way that his friends believe that they will win.For example, TD bets his friends that he can magnetize a wood stick.They fall for it since they know that he can�t possibly magnetize wood.Well, we later find out that he made a boomerang and pretends to use a magnet to bring it back to him.My favorite part of the stories in this book is how TD livens up the swindles and money-making schemes with his story telling.Who wouldn�t want to ride the raft, Explorer, after hearing him narrate during the ride?The author tells the story in such a way that it makes you smile.This book concludes with JD getting fed up with his older brother TD and devising a plan to make him reform.You won�t want to miss it.

An Unforgettable Classic: A Must Read
John D. Fitzgerald, in the tradition of Mark Twain, wrote a semi-fictitious account of his childhood as a Mormon in Utah. The milieu and time for "The Great Brain" series is a Victorian, early 1900's era, making the stories more in the lines of Tom Sawyer and Huck Fynn. But that does not belittle this timeless classic written in the 70's. The Great Brain is in fact an interesting character to follow. The stories are told from the point of view of his younger brother, as he follows him through many schemes (all of which are money scams) and escapades, which somehow wind down to moral lessons. The Great Brain is a humorous, brilliant and witty work of historic fiction that is sure to touch every reader in some way. I first read the series as a young child myself, growing up in much the same way The Great Brain does- a strict religious family that promotes hard work and academic education. These stories are hard to find nowadays, Victorian morales having slipped away somehow in our modern day. I am glad to know that Amazon.com still has these great books and I recommend them to everyone, young and old. For me, reading the novels was a form of escape, as well as an insightful glimpse of a time that was far more innocent than our own- the violent gangs of today and MTV, Britney Spears, Joy of Pepsi, Ossie Osbourne generation compare nothing to the rebelliousnes of the Great Brain. All of the books are enjoyable, and it is not until the last book in the series, "The Great Brain Reforms" (the name says it all) that we discover the startling growth and changes the punky, swindling, intelligent adult-trapped in the body of a child Great Brain undergoes. A Must Read. ... Read more