Overall rating and opinion of " The Sword Swallower and a Chico Kid" by Gary Robinson

[l_wilder7]

I just finished it and I have some mixed feelings about it. The kid in me loves the circus aspect of the story, and overall it was quite touching. However, it could have used a more thorough edit for sure.

[Amy+++]

When I heard about his book, it made me think of the circus and how there are none around anymore. The langue and some of the things that go on in the book do not appeal to me to read. If anything this book makes me feel nostalgic for the old days of the circus. I give props to the author for being able to write about his youth. That must have been a very hard thing to do.

[Jackie-N]

To be honest, I had difficulty identifying with the main character, which made it equally difficult to romanticize his view of life, hardships of circus and how to deal with long hours, commitment to the job, free time, relationships, and hard work. Most of us struggle or struggled with hard work and choices in our lifetime, but chose to roll with them, complaining most certainly, but managed not to rely on drugs, alcohol, or questionable relationships in order to cope with that one particular situation. To justify this avenue of dealing with the job was unacceptable in my opinion. I rather enjoyed the inside view of the traveling circus life but found myself constantly trying to gloss over and skip the rest. If some of the character's slipups were separated from the job and attributed to human frailty, these things could have been easily forgiven, provided he rose above them in the end. I tried so hard not putting this into words but the need to post something here, and being reminded several times cornered me. In light of this fact, I opted for honesty, though it pains me.

[Cecilia_L]

I will probably pass on this book as I'm weary of weak female characters. It's 2018, y'all!

[amcanelly3]

I gave it 3 our of 4 stars, but that may be generous. It's written simply so it's an easy read for anyone. Duke is by far the most compelling character as written. The story has a good meaning behind it and tackles alcoholism I feel in a flat way but not the way most see it, so that was refreshing. But a lot of what I wanted to read more about wasn't followed up on. The story was more told than shown. Still, I would read it again and again, when I've got some time to kill.

[Amy+++]

The cover art is not really appealing to me. It is okay but I wouldn't pick this book up in a store with that cover art. I know the book is about the authors life and that he is being real with his readers about the book but maybe the cover art is going a little too far.

[Mungai wilson]

Robinson clearly puts his theme fluently to make this novel a succes.i rate it four out of four

[Mungai wilson]

Generally,the book was interesting at first.after perusing more pages,i was left in a different culture other than what am used to.the book revolves around an American culture which is rarely recognized.i will read the remaining part in the course of the week

[Kibet Hillary]

I have just read the free sample of this job which was not full. I hope to read the rest of it soon but I would give it a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. The concept of sword swallowing sounds too theoretical for me. I would recommend it to others definitely because there are some who like such stories.

[Amy+++]

I think I would only recommend this book to people that like what this book talks about. Sword swallowing and drugs are not something that I enjoy reading about but I know a few people who do and I think they would like this book a great deal, especially since it is an honest book about the author's life before he got married.

[GabbiV]

Overall I liked the book, but I specifically loved the bit about decriminalizing drugs. I think this needs to be discussed more, especially in America, where the criminalization of drugs leads to mass imprisonment and further perpetuates the cycle of modern slavery.

[LV2R]

I thought that I would give the book a try. It didn't seem to be one that I would like, but I thought that it wouldn't hurt to read something different. I managed to get through the part about the guy in the circus, but when it described the college kid and his disgusting parties, I just couldn't stand to read any more of the book. Not my type and I would not recommend the book to anyone.

[Ktwills79]

This book is so fascinating with all the different plots and I was especially interested in the drug/overdose theme since I deal with that a lot in my work. I also didn't get the part about why Angel would be so into someone she's never met, and that part kind of threw me. Overall though, an interesting story!

[anwidmer]

As i read through the comments and replys im further intrigued to move thid book up my TBR list. The drug/overdose theme is also interestimg to me as i worked in a rehabilitation center for some time and learned to u derstamd that "world" better.

[Ayomaamianda]

This was my first book to read and review. I loved the story and the simple language used. The friendship that developed between Gary and Chico kid was also fascinating. As a woman I was a little disappointed with how the writer depicted the female characters in the story but I understand this is his story.