Bobby Rex's Greatest Hit

by Marianne Gingher

Book by Gingher, Marianne

Genres: Fiction

308 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 1986

Reviews

[Treasure Island Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an old charmer. Pally Thompson is dismayed that hometown superstar has written a revealing tell-all song about her. Did she or didn't she? Read this book for all the juicy details.

[Cinthia Ritchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book years ago and was excited to find it on Amazon a few months ago. The second reading didn't disappoint, either. Gingher's voice is fresh and lively, with splashes of laugh-out-loud humor, shadowed by an underlying saddness because, really, isn't all humor born out of desperation? And in a sense, this is a sad book. But in another sense, it breathes with optimism.
The book opens with a series of hilarious letters, and yet the second chapter begins with such an endearing tone that it's impossible not to keep reading.
The story follows Pally Thompson through the last years of high school and the early segment of her marriage. It's bittersweet and familiar; reading through, you can almost smell the musky, bologna odor of your old high school cafeteria. You can feel the tug of your first love, still waiting there down inside your breastbone.
But the strongest aspect of "Bobby Rex's Greatest Hit" is the writing, which shines so bright that it almost overshadows the story. I had to continually pause to read sections over and over again, small nuggets of wisdom swimming up through ordinary scenes.
Some of my favorite lines:
"Even when she seemed so frail there was this rare energy about her, a light that we wared to, waiting for her to cause new things to happen in our lives for better or worse."
And, "...the end of a school year had a melancholy feel to it, like fall. When you slammed your empty locker shut, you felt the echo in your chest."
"Bobby Rex's Greatest Hit" is classified as young adult but don't let that fool you. The book, and especially the writing, is strong enough to hold the attention (and love) of the most disconcerting adult.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but not great. I loved this book in high school.

[Ken McDouall · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Southern writing" at its most banal. Adolescent girls in the late 1950s enduring longing, disillusionment, and abandonment. The writing isn't elegant enough to hold the reader's interest.