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As Good As Can Be

door William A. Glass

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Dave Knight is a wayward child growing up in a military family during the 1950s. His older sister wants to kill him but settles for regularly beating him up. Other siblings join in the mayhem while their alcoholic father contributes to the chaos with his unique approach to parenting. As the Knight family moves from one army base to the next, Dave develops a give-a-damn attitude, which often leads to trouble. In high school, he joins other delinquents in a series of escapades, some dangerous, others funny, and a few that would be worthy of jail time should they ever be caught. After barely graduating, Dave is drafted into the army and sent to guard a nuclear weapons depot in Korea. There, he gets into trouble with his sergeant and tries to avoid dishonorable discharge.… (meer)
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Toon 4 van 4
Deze bespreking was geschreven voorLibraryThing lid Weggevers.
At first, I was interested in the setting. Too many kids (five of them) in this family. Dave Knight’s father is an alcoholic army officer and the wife is trying to hold it all together.

I liked the start but wasn’t sure where this book was going. I would call it a coming-of-age novel but it’s more like lots of stories that never fully tie together. So that’s why I kind of lost interest about halfway into the book.

Mostly you have this large dysfunctional family moving around a lot just as one would expect from an Army family. The kids fight each other a lot.

The only child that appears to make something of himself is Dan even if he was slacking the entire time. We’re not sure what happens to all his siblings. We know one dies and his mother passes away.
So at times the story works for me and other times not so much.

https://theworldisabookandiamitsreader.wordpress.com/2021/05/17/as-good-as-can-b... ( )
  Kea142 | May 17, 2021 |
Deze bespreking was geschreven voorLibraryThing lid Weggevers.
I will be completely honest. I am not much into the war scene, unless you count Forest Gump but who doesn't like that one? I requested this book because I had never read anything like it so I figured it would be perfect for me so I would be able to give a fully honest opinion.

As Good As Can Be was a interesting and engaging book. I found myself enjoying reading about how Dave went from day to day reading how he grew and how he handled military life. But it wasnt a boring "history book" read It was quite the adventure. For some pets it didn't feel like I was reading a military related book buy more on a young man's journey through life. I have to admit that if I was going to judge the book by its cover I probably wouldn't have read it. I am so glad I never choose books that way. I was very happy to have given this opportunity to read this book. I recommend everyone give it a try. ( )
1 stem Starla.Yarbrough | Feb 1, 2021 |
As Good as Can Be is one of those coming-of-age novels with which people of a certain age find it so easy to identify. If your own coming-of-age spans the fifties and sixties (as mine did), the novel is almost certain to get you thinking about your own experiences during those years. But that’s far from all that William A. Glass’s As Good as Can Be has going for it because Dave Knight’s growing-up story turns out to be quite an adventure. Before this one is over, we spend time with the Knight family in Iran, follow the military family from one army post to another, and get a long look at what it was liked to be stationed in South Korea almost two decades after the dust settled on the Korean War.

And Dave Knight lives on the edge the whole time, never making it easy on anyone who cares for him – or, for that matter, on anyone forced to deal with him by circumstance, be they teachers, superior officers, or employers.

Today, Dave would likely be one of those kids said to be suffering from ADD, kids who are often very bright but just can’t sit still long enough to concentrate on their studies. But in the fifties, Dave is diagnosed simply as a pain in the butt by his teachers and, more importantly, by his strict Army officer father who sees him as an embarrassing failure. Dave is such an avid reader that reading is pretty much all he wants to do, no matter what class he is in or how far ahead of his reading class he might already be. Otherwise, he cannot sit still and he cannot shut up, neither of which do anything to endear him to his teachers. The pattern is set early in his life, and Dave’s father gives up on him just as early.

That tells you a lot about Lieutenant Colonel David S. Knight Jr., Dave’s father, but it doesn’t tell you just how often, or how tragically, the colonel lets down his wife and children. Dave and his brothers and sisters spend most of their time trying either to please their demanding father or avoid him altogether. They usually fail at both – sometimes with life-scarring consequences.

Dave, though, is a survivor, and this is his story.

Bottom Line: As Good as Can Be may be primarily a coming-of-age story, but it is also quite the page-turner, and it’s easy to get caught up in the Knight family’s tragic story, one largely written by the family’s alcoholic patriarch, a man unwilling ever to put his wife and children above his own military ambitions. It’s one hell of a ride.

(Review Copy provided by Author or Publisher) ( )
1 stem SamSattler | Apr 28, 2020 |
As Good As Can Be is a cheeky, enjoyable read. I'll admit I was worried this would be a bit darker than it was. The opening line made me laugh, and after the first chapter I was excited to read the rest of the book. Not your typical historical fiction, but that's not a bad thing! Following Dave and his family is a ride you don't want to miss. ( )
1 stem LilyRoseShadowlyn | Apr 14, 2020 |
Toon 4 van 4
As Good As Can Be by William A. Glass is an addictive, humorous tale about individual struggles and family drama...readers will adore the memorable Dave and appreciate Glass's fine rendering of the Knights' dysfunctional family life. Rich with drama and intrigue, the book makes for a page-turner.
toegevoegd door Glaswa4611 | bewerkThe Prairies Book Review (Feb 2, 2021)
 
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Dave Knight is a wayward child growing up in a military family during the 1950s. His older sister wants to kill him but settles for regularly beating him up. Other siblings join in the mayhem while their alcoholic father contributes to the chaos with his unique approach to parenting. As the Knight family moves from one army base to the next, Dave develops a give-a-damn attitude, which often leads to trouble. In high school, he joins other delinquents in a series of escapades, some dangerous, others funny, and a few that would be worthy of jail time should they ever be caught. After barely graduating, Dave is drafted into the army and sent to guard a nuclear weapons depot in Korea. There, he gets into trouble with his sergeant and tries to avoid dishonorable discharge.

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