America's new Mark Twain
A Great Story, July 26, 2010
By S. Peek (Rocky Mountains, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Lyin' Like a Dog (Paperback)
'Lyin' Like A Dog' is a well written and highly entertaining story of young boys growing up in the South in the 1940s.
This novel has some of the same feel as a couple of highly acclaimed novels set a hundred years before - Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. This one is set in Norphlet, Arkansas and features 12 year old Richard Mason and his sidekick John Clayton Reed. Much like Mark Twain's characters, Mason and Reed are young adventurers who deal with a wide variety of situations that are great fun for the boys as well as the readers. The duo have run ins with bootleggers, concoct an ill advised get rich quick scheme, and much more.
I believe the story is part fiction and part autobiographical. Whatever the combination of those is, the result is highly entertaining.
Although I am certainly not trying to 'dis' an American legend like Mark Twain, this book is almost as good as his two classics. If the story were expanded a bit, it just might top Twain's best. I have not read Mason's previous book, 'The Red Scarf', but it is going to go on my 'to read list'.
New novel features Norphlet Schools
Reviews for Lyin’ Like A Dog by R. Harper Mason from
Some of the Top Book Reviewers on www.amazon.com
I loved it! … Less than a minute into Lyin' Like a Dog I found myself transported back to my childhood in Ohio and the fanciful daydreams I used to have…. Author R. Harper Mason certainly seems to understand a young boy's mind because the speech pattern is spot on and the action and characteristics are realistic. He must be a natural-born storyteller because he relates this tale in an easy-to-read, chronological order with excellent pacing…. I'm still smiling as I recommend Lyin' Like a Dog to young and old alike.
—Betty Dravis, Silicon Valley, Calif.
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I found it to be a delightful and charming string of loosely connected adventures and misadventures alike that the boy shared with his best friend, John Clayton.
Some people have compared Mason's writings to that of Mark Twain, and I can certainly see that. However, for myself, what the many times humorous chapters in this book reminded me of more than anything was LITTLE RASCALS DVD BOXED SET- MEGA COLLECTION-88 EPISODES. I used to watch the LITTLE RASCALS as a kid & the pranks (which usually backfired) and crazy notions in this book were very much along the same lines as those quacky little rascals.
—D. Roberts, Battle Creek, Michigan
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Lyin Like A Dog is a very heart warming coming of age memoir. Richard Mason's experiences of growing up in rural Arkansas during the last year of World War II is honest and touching. Young boys had fun doing the simplest of things…. The heart of the novel is the theme of friendship…. Lyin Like a Dog also addresses the theme of how children handle the a death of a loved one respectfully. The young boys in this book make a difference in the small town where they live by reporting a crime. Young boys have a sense of morality, but they are also capable of mischief. I like how Richard Mason weaves these two elements into the book.
—Robert G. Yokoyama, Mililani, Hawaii
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There's magic in this tale, but it isn't the magic of witches or warlocks. (This is not to say that the ever-resourceful Richard and John Clayton wouldn't have found some way to exploit a good spell had it showed its freckled face.) It's the magic of young people behavin' like ... well ... young people! These two boys run, jump, and leap off the page in one adventure in adolescence to the next, whether they're heading in the direction their parents would be proud of or not. They do right, they do wrong, they learn from their mistakes, they pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and rush headlong in their next caper. LYIN' LIKE A DOG is filled with the magic of character.
—Edward Lee
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The book is wonderful in the way it is constructed and there is a great deal to learn here. The writing is wonderful and we get a look at a world that never will be again--life was so much simpler then.
—Amos Lassen, Little Rock, Ark.
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Twelve-year-old boys that have room to roam can have great adventures, but they can also get into a lot of trouble. Richard and John Clayton are inseparable best friends with a lot of curiosity, energy and a desire to make things happen. It is an understatement to say that they are merely active, their bodies and minds are going all the time, not necessarily always in the proper direction.
These were great adventures in the spirit of Tom and Huck, something that all boys can appreciate.
—Charles Ashbacher, Marion, Iowa
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This collection of good "old' boys" tales is rich in regional panache, common sense and clean excitement. And while the stories will appeal mostly to teens and preteens, the dialogues are well constructed and contain enough wisdom and surprises to hold the interest of all ages.
—Herbert L. Calhoun, Falls Church, Virginia
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One piece of narrative technique that I admired was the way the author leads from one scenario to the next, raising expectation very skillfully. He knows how to tell each episode too, and although I have never in real life felt the smallest interest in a tug-of-war, I don't think I ever followed a sporting report with more sense of involvement than I experienced from the tale of the tug-of-war across the patch of nettles here.
—David Bryson, Glossop, Derbyshire, England
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