Amazing Tales for Making Men out of Boys
Neil Oliver
William Morrow, 2009, 364 pp., $25.99
neiloliver.com
In our contemporary society, we have lost the art of a paradigm-shifting story, a story so powerful that it causes us to re-examine our lives, to stand a little taller and fight a little harder. Neil Oliver’s Amazing Tales for Making Men out of Boys attempts to fill that gap. Often, it succeeds. Oliver recounts various tales of bravery and daring and seeks to inspire courage simply through their telling.
The various tales, such as Shackleton’s adventure to Antarctica, Apollo 13, or the Alamo, certainly rouse the spirit and capture the sense of adventure for which many boys yearn. Yet, the tragic and bloody nature of many of these stories, and the occasionally archaic language, may make some of the reading too difficult for grade-schoolers. Nonetheless, the stories give an inspiring look at courage and sacrifice that many boys need to hear.
