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Red Sky at Morning
In the summer of 1944, Frank Arnold, a wealthy shipbuilder in Mobile, Alabama, receives his volunteer commission in the U.S. Navy and moves his wife, Ann, and seventeen-year-old son, Josh, to the family’s summer home in the village of Corazon Sagrado, high in the New Mexico mountains. A true daughter of the Confederacy, Ann finds it impossible to cope with the quality of life in the largely Hispanic village and, in the company of Jimbob Buel—an insufferable, South-proud, professional houseguest—takes to bridge and sherry. Josh, on the other hand, becomes an integral member of the Sagrado community, forging friendships with his new classmates, with the town’s disreputable resident artist, and with Amadeo and Excilda Montoya, the couple hired by his father to care for their house.
Josh narrates the story of his fateful year in Sagrado and, with irresistibly deadpan, irreverent humor, describes the events and people who influence his progress to maturity. Unhindered by his mother's disdain for these "tacky, dusty little Westerners," Josh comes into his own and into a young man's finely formed understanding of duty, responsibility, and love.
Josh narrates the story of his fateful year in Sagrado and, with irresistibly deadpan, irreverent humor, describes the events and people who influence his progress to maturity. Unhindered by his mother's disdain for these "tacky, dusty little Westerners," Josh comes into his own and into a young man's finely formed understanding of duty, responsibility, and love.
246 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1968
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2806 people want to read
About the author
Richard Bradford
3 books13 followersRichard Bradford was an American novelist, best known for his 1968 novel Red Sky at Morning, a film version of which was released in 1971.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 368 reviews
July 6, 2017
4**** and a ❤
A coming-of-age story set in a small mountain town in New Mexico during WW II. 17-year-old Josh has to become the man of the household when his father goes into the Navy and moves the family from Mobile to New Mexico where they'll be safer. Josh's mom cannot deal with the change in social life and different cultural norms. Josh finds new friends and himself.
The first time I heard about this book was when my mother checked it out of the library and I would hear her laughing as she read. I kept asking her about it and she read snippets aloud. I could hardly wait for her to finish so I could read it also. Many years later I checked it out of the library and read it again. For a while it was out of print and unavailable, but I'm happy that it's available again. I have my own copy now.
***UPDATE 25Aug12***
Yet another re-read of this favorite. Bradford writes believable teens (and adults), making sense of a world whose rules have changed. I was caught up in the story of Josh and his family, as they tried to make the best of the situation. The setting shields the characters from the war, but war will intrude eventually. In the meantime Josh and his friends maintain some of the innocence of youth, while still stretching the boundaries as they rush head-long towards adulthood.
***UPDATE 24May15***
A challenge to read "your mother's favorite book" in honor of Mother's Day temporarily threw me for a loop. My mother passed away last year and she'd never shared what was her favorite read. (Actually, she didn't read much in the last two decades of her life.) Then I remembered this little gem of a novel. Oh, how we laughed together reading it! Re-reading it and thinking of my mother was a perfect way to meet this challenge.
The hardcover copy I got from the library was the "seventh printing" and had no cover art - just a white background with a red and black title. BUT, it did include several author blurbs -including one from Harper Lee! She writes: Red Sky at Morning is a minor marvel: it is a novel of paradox, of identity, of an overwhelming YES to life that embraces with wonder what we are pleased to call the human condition. In short, a work of art. Well, I sure can't improve on that!
A coming-of-age story set in a small mountain town in New Mexico during WW II. 17-year-old Josh has to become the man of the household when his father goes into the Navy and moves the family from Mobile to New Mexico where they'll be safer. Josh's mom cannot deal with the change in social life and different cultural norms. Josh finds new friends and himself.
The first time I heard about this book was when my mother checked it out of the library and I would hear her laughing as she read. I kept asking her about it and she read snippets aloud. I could hardly wait for her to finish so I could read it also. Many years later I checked it out of the library and read it again. For a while it was out of print and unavailable, but I'm happy that it's available again. I have my own copy now.
***UPDATE 25Aug12***
Yet another re-read of this favorite. Bradford writes believable teens (and adults), making sense of a world whose rules have changed. I was caught up in the story of Josh and his family, as they tried to make the best of the situation. The setting shields the characters from the war, but war will intrude eventually. In the meantime Josh and his friends maintain some of the innocence of youth, while still stretching the boundaries as they rush head-long towards adulthood.
***UPDATE 24May15***
A challenge to read "your mother's favorite book" in honor of Mother's Day temporarily threw me for a loop. My mother passed away last year and she'd never shared what was her favorite read. (Actually, she didn't read much in the last two decades of her life.) Then I remembered this little gem of a novel. Oh, how we laughed together reading it! Re-reading it and thinking of my mother was a perfect way to meet this challenge.
The hardcover copy I got from the library was the "seventh printing" and had no cover art - just a white background with a red and black title. BUT, it did include several author blurbs -including one from Harper Lee! She writes: Red Sky at Morning is a minor marvel: it is a novel of paradox, of identity, of an overwhelming YES to life that embraces with wonder what we are pleased to call the human condition. In short, a work of art. Well, I sure can't improve on that!
May 16, 2010
"Hunnerd percent."
April 27, 2008
Somehow I had it in my mind (solely from the title of the book) that this was going to be along the same vein as Pat Frank's Alas, Babylon or Nevil Shute's On the Beach; I always thought there would be some form of a nuclear attack, so I have put it off for a while, claiming to "not be in the mood" for a nuclear attack story (considering I cried like a baby at the end of On the Beach).
I finally picked a copy up from the library and was interested to read in the front cover that it really is a story of World War II, and there was a blurb from Groucho Marx - not quite a person I would expect to blurb a depressing book about bombs killing people. The story is about Joshua Arnold, a 17-year-old boy living with his family in Mobile, Alabama. His father is in the Navy and volunteers his work for the war. Josh and his mother leave Mobile for their summer home in Sagrado, New Mexico to wait out the war. Josh goes to school in Sagrado and makes new friends, but the story is not quite that mundane. The friends have whole back-stories that are surprisingly believable and great insights into their character. In the meantime Josh's mother has to fight her Southern aristocratic lifestyle and try to embrace a completely different culture. Josh wants what most 17-year-olds want, which is simply to be a kid; the difference being there is a war going on in which his father is a part, and Josh struggles daily to maintain the innocence of his childhood by not wanting to grow up.
As in any good coming-of-age novel, the growing up process is inevitable. This one is considered to be the Catcher in the Rye of the Southwest, but I beg to differ. There is no angst and self-pity in Josh's character. He does not think he is better than anyone; in fact, he is an honest character, open to new ideas and the people around him. He embraces the people he meets, and each one, down to the local thug or the sexually loose high school twins, makes an impact on him.
For the first book by a non-writer, it's a great one. Josh Arnold makes Holden Caulfield look like a bigger wuss than I originally thought of Holden.
I finally picked a copy up from the library and was interested to read in the front cover that it really is a story of World War II, and there was a blurb from Groucho Marx - not quite a person I would expect to blurb a depressing book about bombs killing people. The story is about Joshua Arnold, a 17-year-old boy living with his family in Mobile, Alabama. His father is in the Navy and volunteers his work for the war. Josh and his mother leave Mobile for their summer home in Sagrado, New Mexico to wait out the war. Josh goes to school in Sagrado and makes new friends, but the story is not quite that mundane. The friends have whole back-stories that are surprisingly believable and great insights into their character. In the meantime Josh's mother has to fight her Southern aristocratic lifestyle and try to embrace a completely different culture. Josh wants what most 17-year-olds want, which is simply to be a kid; the difference being there is a war going on in which his father is a part, and Josh struggles daily to maintain the innocence of his childhood by not wanting to grow up.
As in any good coming-of-age novel, the growing up process is inevitable. This one is considered to be the Catcher in the Rye of the Southwest, but I beg to differ. There is no angst and self-pity in Josh's character. He does not think he is better than anyone; in fact, he is an honest character, open to new ideas and the people around him. He embraces the people he meets, and each one, down to the local thug or the sexually loose high school twins, makes an impact on him.
For the first book by a non-writer, it's a great one. Josh Arnold makes Holden Caulfield look like a bigger wuss than I originally thought of Holden.
May 23, 2011
Everyone has totemic books, books that mean something to them beyond the words on a page. It's a wonderful thing when a book that is special and meaningful is also funny and terrifically written. Yes, it's a coming-of-age story, set in 1942 in the southwest; it's also shrewd and miraculously observant about people and their behavior, about what happens when cultures bump up against each other. I discovered this book when I was fifteen (a new transplant from a city to a small rural town) and immediately fell in love with it. I've given copies to people over the years, and phrases from the book have worked their way into constant use.
It also has the best dead horse scene in literature, a U.S. Army VD training film which is not to be missed, and a scene with an irate father of twins that will blow your socks (and regions nearby) off.
I can't see anyone old enough to appreciate it not loving RED SKY.
It also has the best dead horse scene in literature, a U.S. Army VD training film which is not to be missed, and a scene with an irate father of twins that will blow your socks (and regions nearby) off.
I can't see anyone old enough to appreciate it not loving RED SKY.
September 28, 2021
I'll make this brief. This book is a treasure. A joy. A nearly perfect tonic to our stress-filled, anger-inducing, fearful times. You can skip the rest of this review if you like. (I know, I know: I just said this about another book. Still, I stand by it.) Just get your hands on the book, that's all I really want to say.
"Red Sky at Morning" is a coming of age book -- considered by many to be a classic of the genre, in fact -- but the main character (teenager Joshua Arnold) is a lot smarter, funnier, and infinitely more likeable than Holden Caulfield. A lot more fun to spend time with. The book is set during World War 2. As it opens, Josh and his family live in Mobile, Alabama. There's also an insufferable guest (Jimbob Buel) who never leaves and whom Joshua despises as a leech. (One day he says to Jimbob, "If Grant’s artillery had been a little sharper they might have hit your house and killed your grandfather, and stopped the whole useless line of Buels right there. Worst mistake of the war.")
Life goes on as usual until one day Dad announces, to Mom's outrage, that he's enlisted in the US Navy and will be deployed. Because their living along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico puts them at risk from enemy submarines, the rest of the family (and permanent hanger-on) will have to move to Corazon Sagrado in New Mexico, where they've spent summers. The book recounts Josh's experiences there, the friends he makes, and that hard realizations that come to him with experience. Following Josh as he navigates his way around his new school and his new town is a fun ride, filled with adventure and danger and flirtation and... just lots of good stuff -- a story very well and engagingly told.
"Red Sky at Morning" is a very funny book. I laughed aloud at Josh's description of an assembly where a self-important therapist (of highly questionable morality addresses his all-male audience with "Hello, boys and girls. I say girls because some of you, whether you know it yet or not, have a preponderance of female emotional characteristics and will someday be, if you have not already become, homosexuals. Or, as you would say, fruits." After which a sex ed movie called "Classic Luetic Symptoms, Series 13, U.S. Public Health Service is shown. Why? Because it has come to the attention of school administrators that "a few students have been... uh... anticipating the marriage ceremony and have actually been... uh... engaging in -- I know this will shock you, but I'm going to say it -- sex practices. Yes, sex practices! It's too revolting to think about, but it's the truth." (I know I was shocked!) The movie is every bit as hokey as one would expect. If you're of a certain age, you can easily envision the black and white film clicking in the projector and the stern voice of the narrator. After noting how syphilis is increasing "as fast as the population of India," he pleads for "compulsory Wassermann tests and the music, 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic,' swelled to a climax as the movie ended and the lights came on."
The humor is fun in its own right, to be sure, but it is used to serious effect. Yes, it shows who Josh is and what he's thinking, but it's also used to skewer the racism, bigotry, and pretentiousness he sees in many of the adults around him. Josh is clearly aware of how warped the racial hierarchy of the South is. "With my grades," he remarks, "I’ll be lucky to get into the University of Alabama, and all you need there is a couple of sworn statements that you’re white.”
Mom in particular has issues (more than one, in fact: she has a drinking problem that worsens as the novel progresses, driven by her hatred for Corazon Sagrado and its population). Sometimes what she says is just patently ridiculous: "Do you know that she’s Jewish?” [mom says] “I thought her father was the Episcopal minister,” I said. “He is,” she said. “That’s just the point. That’s the first thing they do, become Episcopals.” “Well, if they’re Episcopals, how can they be Jewish? I mean, if you switch from being a Baptist to being a Methodist, you’re not a Baptist any more.” “I don’t care how Episcopalian they pretend to be. I don’t care if one of them becomes the Archbishop of Canterbury.” At other times, her remarks cross the line from risible to deplorable. She's a hard person to like.
Other adults too are targets of Josh's/Bradford's scorn. The afore-mentioned therapist, for example (what a piece of work he is!), and a guy named Cloyd who fakes accidents so he can sue people and who threatens to shoot boys who take advantage of his daughters. (About those daughters... Josh goes on a date with one of them. "It's pretty up here, isn't it?" I said, making some of the brilliant drawing-room repartee for which I am famous on three continents. "If you're gonna try to make out, you better not talk," she said. "I don't like a lot of conversation."
And then there's a local eccentric -- a big donor to the school, and so someone who must be indulged -- who each year speaks to the students about Native Americans and their "traditions": “Once [she tells them] the Indians were a proud race, and the arrows in their quivers were many. They trapped the tender rabbit in their snares and hunted the wily buffalo.” “Oh, come on,” one of the Indians behind us whispered. “I got a couple of Guernsey cows that are wilier than a goddamn buffalo.”
There are, of course, numerous adults in the book who are goodhearted; unsurprisingly they tend to be the people whom Mom looks down on. And Josh's friends are a hoot: "As Marcia put it, his balls were in an uproar, an expression she’d evidently picked up in her father’s Episcopal Bible Class." Another friend, Steenie, son of the town's obstetrician, shares fantastic stories about his own medical expertise and combat training. And Chango, whose real name is Maximiliano Lopez and who is not at all what Josh (and the reader, for that matter) takes him to be.
I could go on. "Red Sky at Morning" is filled with interesting people and situations, with a big heart and a laudable sense of right and wrong. It's not all funny set pieces and sardonic asides; there is a serious purpose beneath the story, and dark realities show themselves more than once, sometimes to devastating effect. But in the end it really comes down to this: I loved the book. It's funny and touching, a joy to read. It made me feel better every time I picked it up. I can't recommend it highly enough.
"Red Sky at Morning" is a coming of age book -- considered by many to be a classic of the genre, in fact -- but the main character (teenager Joshua Arnold) is a lot smarter, funnier, and infinitely more likeable than Holden Caulfield. A lot more fun to spend time with. The book is set during World War 2. As it opens, Josh and his family live in Mobile, Alabama. There's also an insufferable guest (Jimbob Buel) who never leaves and whom Joshua despises as a leech. (One day he says to Jimbob, "If Grant’s artillery had been a little sharper they might have hit your house and killed your grandfather, and stopped the whole useless line of Buels right there. Worst mistake of the war.")
Life goes on as usual until one day Dad announces, to Mom's outrage, that he's enlisted in the US Navy and will be deployed. Because their living along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico puts them at risk from enemy submarines, the rest of the family (and permanent hanger-on) will have to move to Corazon Sagrado in New Mexico, where they've spent summers. The book recounts Josh's experiences there, the friends he makes, and that hard realizations that come to him with experience. Following Josh as he navigates his way around his new school and his new town is a fun ride, filled with adventure and danger and flirtation and... just lots of good stuff -- a story very well and engagingly told.
"Red Sky at Morning" is a very funny book. I laughed aloud at Josh's description of an assembly where a self-important therapist (of highly questionable morality addresses his all-male audience with "Hello, boys and girls. I say girls because some of you, whether you know it yet or not, have a preponderance of female emotional characteristics and will someday be, if you have not already become, homosexuals. Or, as you would say, fruits." After which a sex ed movie called "Classic Luetic Symptoms, Series 13, U.S. Public Health Service is shown. Why? Because it has come to the attention of school administrators that "a few students have been... uh... anticipating the marriage ceremony and have actually been... uh... engaging in -- I know this will shock you, but I'm going to say it -- sex practices. Yes, sex practices! It's too revolting to think about, but it's the truth." (I know I was shocked!) The movie is every bit as hokey as one would expect. If you're of a certain age, you can easily envision the black and white film clicking in the projector and the stern voice of the narrator. After noting how syphilis is increasing "as fast as the population of India," he pleads for "compulsory Wassermann tests and the music, 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic,' swelled to a climax as the movie ended and the lights came on."
The humor is fun in its own right, to be sure, but it is used to serious effect. Yes, it shows who Josh is and what he's thinking, but it's also used to skewer the racism, bigotry, and pretentiousness he sees in many of the adults around him. Josh is clearly aware of how warped the racial hierarchy of the South is. "With my grades," he remarks, "I’ll be lucky to get into the University of Alabama, and all you need there is a couple of sworn statements that you’re white.”
Mom in particular has issues (more than one, in fact: she has a drinking problem that worsens as the novel progresses, driven by her hatred for Corazon Sagrado and its population). Sometimes what she says is just patently ridiculous: "Do you know that she’s Jewish?” [mom says] “I thought her father was the Episcopal minister,” I said. “He is,” she said. “That’s just the point. That’s the first thing they do, become Episcopals.” “Well, if they’re Episcopals, how can they be Jewish? I mean, if you switch from being a Baptist to being a Methodist, you’re not a Baptist any more.” “I don’t care how Episcopalian they pretend to be. I don’t care if one of them becomes the Archbishop of Canterbury.” At other times, her remarks cross the line from risible to deplorable. She's a hard person to like.
Other adults too are targets of Josh's/Bradford's scorn. The afore-mentioned therapist, for example (what a piece of work he is!), and a guy named Cloyd who fakes accidents so he can sue people and who threatens to shoot boys who take advantage of his daughters. (About those daughters... Josh goes on a date with one of them. "It's pretty up here, isn't it?" I said, making some of the brilliant drawing-room repartee for which I am famous on three continents. "If you're gonna try to make out, you better not talk," she said. "I don't like a lot of conversation."
And then there's a local eccentric -- a big donor to the school, and so someone who must be indulged -- who each year speaks to the students about Native Americans and their "traditions": “Once [she tells them] the Indians were a proud race, and the arrows in their quivers were many. They trapped the tender rabbit in their snares and hunted the wily buffalo.” “Oh, come on,” one of the Indians behind us whispered. “I got a couple of Guernsey cows that are wilier than a goddamn buffalo.”
There are, of course, numerous adults in the book who are goodhearted; unsurprisingly they tend to be the people whom Mom looks down on. And Josh's friends are a hoot: "As Marcia put it, his balls were in an uproar, an expression she’d evidently picked up in her father’s Episcopal Bible Class." Another friend, Steenie, son of the town's obstetrician, shares fantastic stories about his own medical expertise and combat training. And Chango, whose real name is Maximiliano Lopez and who is not at all what Josh (and the reader, for that matter) takes him to be.
I could go on. "Red Sky at Morning" is filled with interesting people and situations, with a big heart and a laudable sense of right and wrong. It's not all funny set pieces and sardonic asides; there is a serious purpose beneath the story, and dark realities show themselves more than once, sometimes to devastating effect. But in the end it really comes down to this: I loved the book. It's funny and touching, a joy to read. It made me feel better every time I picked it up. I can't recommend it highly enough.
July 6, 2018
As the father of 3 and 1 year-old boys, I can't dedicate as much time to reading as I used to. I therefore generally try to read books that have been recommended by people whose opinions I respect. But every now and then I stumble across a book I've never heard of, but nonetheless feel compelled to read based strictly on the cover/description. Red Sky at Morning is the latest example of such a book, and I am happy to say that my intuition served me well because it is a gem.
Told in the first person by a 17 year-old male, Red Sky at Morning is often characterized as a coming-of-age story and compared to novels like Catcher In the Rye and A Separate Peace. I found it exponentially more entertaining and enjoyable than either of those better-known books.
Red Sky at Morning is a short book that deals with the complex themes of growing to adulthood and ethnic/racial tension in a humorous and inobvious manner that is easy to absorb and embrace. It features an assortment of vivid and unique characters, and several passages of this book made me laugh out loud. I give this a 4+ rating. Highly recommended.
Told in the first person by a 17 year-old male, Red Sky at Morning is often characterized as a coming-of-age story and compared to novels like Catcher In the Rye and A Separate Peace. I found it exponentially more entertaining and enjoyable than either of those better-known books.
Red Sky at Morning is a short book that deals with the complex themes of growing to adulthood and ethnic/racial tension in a humorous and inobvious manner that is easy to absorb and embrace. It features an assortment of vivid and unique characters, and several passages of this book made me laugh out loud. I give this a 4+ rating. Highly recommended.
May 8, 2017
This book describes a young man's experiences during WWII as he moves from Alabama to New Mexico for his senior year of high school. It shows his adaptation to a variety of cultural and geographical changes en route to becoming an adult. The war is treated almost as a separate character in terms of the impact it had on the people on the home front. The characters are memorable. The wry wit and satirical humor made me laugh out loud frequently. l found it warm and engaging.
June 11, 2010
Oh, I love this book. Josh is hilarious, way smarter than he has any right to be, and pretty much always upbeat, which is refreshing. I love The Catcher in the Rye as much as any other smart person who went to public high school and feels alienated a lot, but I'd definitely spend time with Josh Arnold before Holden Caulfield. And we'd eat really delicious food prepared by Excilda and laugh about how stupid racist people are and drink lots of his dad's expensive wine.
December 11, 2025
There is love and wisdom and sly humor in this book. Richard Bradford takes what could have been an ordinary coming-of-age story and makes it magical by placing it in the context of a culture clash heightened by the compromises of war.
Bradford knows that we who too glibly say "Southwest" these days would rethink our assumptions if we had moved from Alabama to New Mexico in 1943, the way the Arnold family does here. He also knows what binds us all together in spite of our differences.
Very few writers can address questions of race, class, ethnicity, family, and religion with a light touch, but Bradford is one of those few, and the result is my nominee for "Most underrated novel in American literature." I've read it more than once.
Bradford knows that we who too glibly say "Southwest" these days would rethink our assumptions if we had moved from Alabama to New Mexico in 1943, the way the Arnold family does here. He also knows what binds us all together in spite of our differences.
Very few writers can address questions of race, class, ethnicity, family, and religion with a light touch, but Bradford is one of those few, and the result is my nominee for "Most underrated novel in American literature." I've read it more than once.
January 14, 2019
One of many books I'd like to re-read. But the regional libraries no longer own copies. Particularly interested in re-viewing setting.
July 6, 2016
Although this book wasn't rich in plot twisters and cliff-hangers, it was inexplicably engaging and addictive. The style was flawless, peppered with rare wit and sarcasm and it is due to it that the book has all my praise. I knew the ending (and pretty much everything in between), as soon as I started reading the book, but the process itself was so much fun!
June 25, 2017
I LOVED this book, once I caught on to the tone of it. When it dawned on me that humor was on each and every page, I was hooked. I think I had a smile on my face the entire time.
Thanks Lisa!
Postal book club round 2016-17
Thanks Lisa!
Postal book club round 2016-17
October 8, 2018
I just finished one of my favorite books. Again. Red Sky At Morning has been compared to Catcher in the Rye. I think it is so much better. I read CITR maybe twice in the 1980s, but I remember him smoking and roaming around the city aimlessly, cussing and that his sister was named Phoebe and he was concerned that she would turn out like him. Kind of like a not-so-fun Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Again, this is my memory from 20+ years ago. I may feel different now. After skimming a synopsis, I admit I should probably read it again.
RSAM is about a kid whose Dad goes off to WWII while he and his mother end up in Small-Town, New Mexico. Josh does all the things small town kids do, and manages to be charming and funny, yet respectful, not sullen like Holden comes off. This book makes me laugh every time I read it. It seems like every few years I understand new levels in it.
I might like this book particularly because it takes place in a world I can imagine, rather than New York, but the protagonist's attitude is positive, he is the sort of person I would have liked to have been friends with when I was in high school.
RSAM is about a kid whose Dad goes off to WWII while he and his mother end up in Small-Town, New Mexico. Josh does all the things small town kids do, and manages to be charming and funny, yet respectful, not sullen like Holden comes off. This book makes me laugh every time I read it. It seems like every few years I understand new levels in it.
I might like this book particularly because it takes place in a world I can imagine, rather than New York, but the protagonist's attitude is positive, he is the sort of person I would have liked to have been friends with when I was in high school.
October 4, 2012
This book was a wonderful surprise. I bought it while vacationing in New Mexico because I wanted to read something with a local setting, but otherwise I knew nothing about it. The blurb on the back cover characterized it as a "coming-of-age story." OK, so here's what I expected: teenager gets into scrapes, confronts his first great tragedy, and comes out wiser in the end. But I had no idea how FUNNY his book was. This is no glum story, as it is propelled by a number of characters who are witty and whose company is quite enjoyable. And if you're familiar with the environment of northern New Mexico, the story is even that much more fun.
December 29, 2018
This classic coming of age novel is set in 1944-45, a year of transitions for a country, a family and a young man. The 17 year old narrator moves with his mother from Mobile, AL to a small town in New Mexico while his father enlists. As the narrator makes friends and adjusts to his new home, his mother sinks into depression and alcoholism. These accounts of small town bullies and eccentrics, of teenage pranks and first dates, are told with a voice both natural and intimate, leaving the reader with a sense of such familiarity that, for a short time, it is possible to forget that this is a novel, not the reader’s own memories.
January 4, 2023
Good book. A little dated -- published 1968, set during WW2 and supposedly semi-autobiographical. Setting is a composite of NM mountain villages in the vicinity of Taos. Some of the characters are pretty broadly drawn, but they (mostly) work, and I came to care about them. Plus, I laughed at the funny parts!
Bradford grew up in New Orleans but, like his protagonist, spent part of his childhood in northern New Mexico. He lived most of his adult life in Santa Fe (I think), and died there in 2002, at age 69.
Bradford grew up in New Orleans but, like his protagonist, spent part of his childhood in northern New Mexico. He lived most of his adult life in Santa Fe (I think), and died there in 2002, at age 69.
February 18, 2009
Looking at New Mexico magazine's issue on books, this book was listed as a favorite of most of the people, (authors) interviewed. So we ordered it.
It was a delight to read. If you have ever lived in New Mexico or wondered why we New Mexicans are so strange, this is a great read. Warning, you may have some trouble understanding some of the language even though it is all English.
It was a delight to read. If you have ever lived in New Mexico or wondered why we New Mexicans are so strange, this is a great read. Warning, you may have some trouble understanding some of the language even though it is all English.
December 24, 2022
A well-written and moving coming-of-age story about a teenager, Joshua Arnold. A southern boy from Alabama moves to a small New Mexico town during WW2 when his father goes off to the war.
Good character development and written in a casual, conversational style.
Good character development and written in a casual, conversational style.
September 21, 2023
This coming of age story published in 1968 was adapted into a film with Richard Thomas in the lead role. The story is interesting to me because it is about a family that moves from Alabama to rural New Mexico when the father reports for a military duty. I recently moved to New Mexico so there was some parallels there with my own life. The mother of the family can’t adjust to the transition starts drinking way to much, leaving the teenage son to deal with the culture shock and his mother’s declining mental health. The main problem with the story is the racism complete with using the “N word” and the mother’s racism toward the Latino community including her hired help. It’s interesting study of how times have changed, and made for interesting comparison reading with Our Migrant Souls by Hector Tobar.
July 29, 2020
Re-read it after 30 odd years, and it was more delightful than I recalled. INCREDIBLY funny and well-written. A true classic. Deserves a place alongside To Kill A Mockingbird, Catcher In The Rye, and the best of William Saroyan...
July 8, 2022
The best coming of age story you've never heard about. It's probably required reading in New Mexico. Set in New Mexico during the last year of World War II, Josh is a 17 year old living in Mobile, AL and his dad who owns a shipyard finally gets his wish to go to war with the Navy. Rather than leave Josh and his mom in Mobile while he goes off to war he puts them up in their vacation home in the mountains of New Mexico, a place that the wife loathes. Josh is a flexible young man and the tale is full of humorous exchanges with his classmates as he adjusts to going to school there for the first time. He knew the town from his many summers there but this was a whole new experience for him. Bradford introduces us to the cultures of the places and the times. Josh's mom is having a hard time living without her husband and her beloved South. She eventually turns to the bottle and a male freeloading friend of the family shows up and won't go away. Lots of interesting adventures in this relocation drama as Josh connects positively with all the local folks. The ending is sort of tragic but it's still a great story that will leave you chuckling from some of the kid's antics. Josh was always a good kid who took on responsibility but he shines during this chapter in his life. I'm sure many students would prefer to read this story rather than Catcher in the Rye or Lord of the Flies.
July 5, 2022
4+
A wonderful coming-of-age book set in 1944 that I am surprised I have never read. I can thank Goodreads for the discovery. After reading my Goodreads friend Bruce Katz's wonderful review, how could I not read it? My husband, though, is probably not thanking Bruce for the review, since my frequent laughs kept interrupting his own reading!
The only thing that kept the 4+ from getting a full 5 is my stronger-than-average sensitivity to crudeness, and there was just a LITTLE more than I prefer, although I think most people would not be put off.
It is CERTAINLY not enough to keep me from recommending the book highly!
A wonderful coming-of-age book set in 1944 that I am surprised I have never read. I can thank Goodreads for the discovery. After reading my Goodreads friend Bruce Katz's wonderful review, how could I not read it? My husband, though, is probably not thanking Bruce for the review, since my frequent laughs kept interrupting his own reading!
The only thing that kept the 4+ from getting a full 5 is my stronger-than-average sensitivity to crudeness, and there was just a LITTLE more than I prefer, although I think most people would not be put off.
It is CERTAINLY not enough to keep me from recommending the book highly!
March 30, 2009
I had read this in high school but I appreciated it much more this time. The wry humor and great dialogue make it fun to read, but they are also a little deceiving. The book has real depth and significance beyond the sort of classic coming-of-age story. The vivid descriptions of the fictional town and its surroundings in New Mexico are very appealing. I would recommend this book to anyone.
May 1, 2018
A thin story that doesn’t go any deeper than its over-the-top stereotypes and cliches of Southerners and New Mexicans. Skirted the line with its portrayal of Catholics. I wouldn’t call this a classic. Reads like Pat Conroy‘s The Great Santini, but set in the southwest.
July 4, 2024
This is…different…
There are definitely some memorable characters. The setting is original, very unique for me being set in New Mexico most of the book, but Mobile, in my home state of Alabama, also plays a part. Character dialogue is witty and funny. Josh is a guy I think we all would like to be friends with.
Some of the silly repartee:
“‘You’re the most beautiful girl west of the Allegheny River. Josh and I are both blinded by your beauty. It’s like going out and having a malt with Notre Dame Cathedral.’ 😆
‘You make Betty Grable look like a sack of oyster shells.’
‘You have hair like the mane on a clean lion, not I that ever saw a clean lion.’
‘You could drive whole regiments mad with your looks. Picasso is dying to paint you, with two noses and seven eyes’” (91-92). 🤪
Even the dog, “an immense dog, part shepherd and, to judge from his size, part horse” (126) is a fun character, a “worthless brute of a chicken-stealing dog who…was someday soon going to take her youngest child in its jaws and run away to a cave and eat him…He didn’t look like a dog that stole and ate children. He looked like a dog that might steal chocolate-covered Easter eggs” (127).
I live in Alabama where the air is so darn THICK you can eat it, so this is quite funny! “A lot of people from the South, I’ve noticed, tend to start freezing when the temperature drops below 85 degrees” (223).
Yes, I laughed. I also cried. The end broke my heart.
There are definitely some memorable characters. The setting is original, very unique for me being set in New Mexico most of the book, but Mobile, in my home state of Alabama, also plays a part. Character dialogue is witty and funny. Josh is a guy I think we all would like to be friends with.
Some of the silly repartee:
“‘You’re the most beautiful girl west of the Allegheny River. Josh and I are both blinded by your beauty. It’s like going out and having a malt with Notre Dame Cathedral.’ 😆
‘You make Betty Grable look like a sack of oyster shells.’
‘You have hair like the mane on a clean lion, not I that ever saw a clean lion.’
‘You could drive whole regiments mad with your looks. Picasso is dying to paint you, with two noses and seven eyes’” (91-92). 🤪
Even the dog, “an immense dog, part shepherd and, to judge from his size, part horse” (126) is a fun character, a “worthless brute of a chicken-stealing dog who…was someday soon going to take her youngest child in its jaws and run away to a cave and eat him…He didn’t look like a dog that stole and ate children. He looked like a dog that might steal chocolate-covered Easter eggs” (127).
I live in Alabama where the air is so darn THICK you can eat it, so this is quite funny! “A lot of people from the South, I’ve noticed, tend to start freezing when the temperature drops below 85 degrees” (223).
Yes, I laughed. I also cried. The end broke my heart.
April 10, 2021
Josh Arnold is in high school in Mobile, Alabama when WWII breaks. His father, a shipyard owner, joins the Navy, and moves Josh and his mother, a pampered belle, to their summer home in the desert mountains of New Mexico, to avoid bombing of coastal shipyards. Josh, quick-witted and amiable, transitions easily to a different world with a different culture and social order, making friends with a doctor's son and a fierce girl, and befriending the Hispanic couple who take care of the residence and begin teaching Josh some Spanish. He befriends a sculptor, finds out what small town teenagers do for entertainment, goes on a double date with some memorable twins who live in a swamp, and witnesses a very odd Nativity up in the hills. His mother has a harder time fitting in, and Josh must learn to accept her with her faults, and a tragedy requires him to become the adult. The book is full of commentary on classism and racism, white paternalism toward the Native population, and pretentious snobbery. A wry and witty but also poignant classic that I reread. Highly recommend.
January 19, 2025
In short, I listened to the audiobook of this while I walked my dog each day. A friend suggested I give it a try, but this one was a "no" for me. There were bits of humor that was funny in a cheesy, dad-joke kind of way, but most of it was very dated from either the 1940s (the book's setting) or from 1968 (when it was written). I'm sure someone might "get" this, but I couldn't get this finished fast enough.
June 19, 2024
I picked up this book at the library book sale. I had no idea what to expect. Set in America, it is during WW2 from the perspective of a family left behind while husband/dad goes off to war. A coming-of-age story that I’m really glad I read. It took me a bit to get into, but I loved Josh, Steeny, Marcia, Chamaco and Chango.
January 20, 2026
I initially thought that I was getting into a western detective story; I really did not read the synopsis very well... This story made me feel like a teenager again and also made me want to revisit New Mexico. I greatly enjoyed the humor and the way it was woven into more serious plotlines. It didn't distract from the characters or take away from their growth.
June 25, 2022
Wonderful book.
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