No Instructions Needed Book Review by ChristineMM

Title: No Instructions Needed: An American Boyhood in the 1950s

Author: Robert G. Hewitt

Publication: ArbeitenZeit Media, 2010

My Star Rating: 4 Stars out of 5: I Like It

Summary Statement: A Nostalgic Look Back on a Boy’s Life in the 1950s

Hewitt’s sentimental memoir about growing up in the 1950 in a small town is an easy, fun read. This is a feel-good book perfect for casual reading such as a before bed book or to read a chapter a day.

I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, a white girl, also in a small middle-class town of mostly white people, and the difference between Hewitt’s life and mine was considerable. This gave me a picture of what my father’s childhood was like and I appreciated that insight. Hewitt’s detailed retelling corresponded to similar (yet sketchier) stories I’ve heard from my father. Comparing this to my own son’s lives now, Hewitt’s life is much, much different (and seems better than what today’s boys contend with).

Each chapter is a short story centering on an event or some other main theme. It meanders along, one story after another. Comparing this to other memoirs I’ve read published by other publishing houses, this memoir lacks a general theme or point; it is more an affectionate collection of stories, such as taking separate stories and writing them down and binding them into a book. I have read a few similar memoirs published by regional publishers about people who grew up or lived in a specific region of America whose readership was interested in hearing tales from that region or in that time.

To restate I really enjoyed the book for its historical relevance, it’s a snapshot of a period in time that is long gone. It is a feel-good, happy book that I enjoyed reading cover to cover.

I rate this 4 stars = I Like It rather than 5 stars = I Love It because it was not riveting and didn’t seem to have an overall theme or plot to carry us along and then come to some resolution. It is a nice story collection of memories of a boy’s life until he reaches young adulthood.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the Library Thing Early Reviewers program. I was not paid to blog this review nor was I under obligation to give the book a positive review. For my blog’s full disclosure statement see the link at the top of my blog’s sidebar.