Mostly Magnificent Memoir, A

A child of the 1980s relives a dysfunctional and hilarious childhood in the most difficult speech of his life. It's FORREST GUMP meets THE WONDER YEARS - but mostly true. Hysterically funny at times, heart-wrenching and heart-warming at other times, highly entertaining all the time. The story follows James Murphy, who lives an extraordinarily unique life learning ordinary life lessons to which everyone can relate through his many misadventures. James' misadventures feature everything from swindling friends out of valuable baseball cards to run-ins with bullies and kids in Connecticut "gangs", from awkward romantic heartbreak to family party fiascos, from sophisticated pranks that build up to a court appearance and community service to a death defying "rafting" incident. This is a fictionalized and dramatized adaptation of the author's autobiography turned into a full-motion picture screenplay turned into a novella. It's the unbelievable stories that are actually true. James isn't lying about the magic beanstalk growing on his back porch. Or the monkey in their tree--in New England. He did chase a UFO with his mother and stopped her from killing his dad. Let's just say this book is a collection of true stories made more entertaining and wrapped in a white lie. A Mostly Magnificent Memoir reminds us all that we are social creatures--how our seemingly insignificant interactions with others can significantly impact their lives. It reminds us how precious life is and how grateful we should be for the people in our lives. It reminds us that it is okay to laugh at our own misadventures because life is too short not to.