Borstal Boy

Borstal Boy
by Brendan Behan

Borstal Boy
List Price: $16.95
Our Price: $10.00
You Save: $6.95 (41%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $5.18 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Brendan Behan
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2000-01
ISBN: 1567921051
Number of pages: 386
Publisher: David R. Godine Publisher

Book Reviews of Borstal Boy

Book Review: "The Compliments Pass When The Quality Meet"
Summary: 5 Stars

Brendan Behan's memoir of his time incarcerated in England , is a comical, sympathetic and humanistic work of art. As a young IRA member arrested in Liverpool at the age of 16 in possession of explosives he demonstrated a remarkably fatalistic viewpoint for someone so young and seemed to take in the experience as an observant participant in a human drama without a hint of self pity.

As he begins in a remanded prison before his transfer to London and ultimately to a Borstal (reform school) he meets with a variety of characters both fellow prisoners and "screws" or guards and they populate his story that also includes incredibly detailed descriptions of the routine of a life behind bars.

Behan became famous as a playwright and notorious drinker in his later years and died tragically young apparently from years of heavy drinking. He is a writer of great insight and power and should not be missed by anyone interested in Irish literature.

Summary of Borstal Boy

Brendan Behan was an Irish playwright and novelist, as well as a youthful revolutionary. In 1939, at age 16, he was arrested in Liverpool with a suitcase full of high explosives.

BORSTAL BOY is the autobiographical record of Behan's experiences from that day through his imprisonment, trial, remand to reform school and final release. Schools for delinquents in England are called Borstal Institutions, and Behan's account of his years as a "Borstal Boy" is told in vigorous, dramatic prose.

Authors Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in 100 Must-Read Books for Men, Part 1 of 4
One to Count Cadence ImageOne to Count Cadence
by James Crumley
Vintage; Published: 1987-05-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.10
Price in other shops: $14.00
Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture ImageGeneration X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture
by Douglas Coupland
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 1991-03-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.89
Price in other shops: $15.95
The Rotters' Club ImageThe Rotters' Club
by Jonathan Coe
Vintage; Published: 2003-02-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.54
Price in other shops: $14.95
I Know You Got Soul ImageI Know You Got Soul
by Jeremy Clarkson
Penguin; Published: 2006; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.83
The Ox-Bow Incident (Modern Library Classics) ImageThe Ox-Bow Incident (Modern Library Classics)
by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
Modern Library; Published: 2004-04-27; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.16
Price in other shops: $5.95
The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge ImageThe Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge
by Carlos Castaneda
University of California Press; Published: 2008-05-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.00
Price in other shops: $17.95
The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce, and Selected Stories (Everyman's Library Classics) ImageThe Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce, and Selected Stories (Everyman's Library Classics)
by James M. Cain
Everyman's Library; Published: 2003-07-22; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.42
Price in other shops: $25.00
Space Race: The Epic Battle Between America and the Soviet Union for Dominion of Space ImageSpace Race: The Epic Battle Between America and the Soviet Union for Dominion of Space
by Deborah Cadbury
Harper Perennial; Published: 2007-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.56
Price in other shops: $15.95
The Tartar Steppe ImageThe Tartar Steppe
by Dino Buzzati
David R. Godine; Published: 2005-11-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.31
Price in other shops: $17.95
Junky: The Definitive Text of Junk (50th Anniversary Edition) ImageJunky: The Definitive Text of Junk (50th Anniversary Edition)
by William S. Burroughs
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2003-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.29
Price in other shops: $15.00
Similar Books and other products
Belfast Diary: War as a Way of Life ImageBelfast Diary: War as a Way of Life
by John Conroy
Beacon Press; Published: 1995-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.84
Price in other shops: $18.00
Oscar Wildes Wit and Wisdom: A Book of Quotations (Dover Thrift Editions) ImageOscar Wildes Wit and Wisdom: A Book of Quotations (Dover Thrift Editions)
by Oscar Wilde
Dover Publications; Published: 1998-01-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.60
Price in other shops: $2.50
A Bend in the River ImageA Bend in the River
by V.S. Naipaul
Vintage; Published: 1989-03-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.50
Price in other shops: $15.00
A Star Called Henry (The Last Roundup) ImageA Star Called Henry (The Last Roundup)
by Roddy Doyle
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2004-10-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.75
Price in other shops: $15.00
If I Should Fall from Grace - The Shane MacGowan Story ImageIf I Should Fall from Grace - The Shane MacGowan Story
Release date: 2003-04-22; DVD
Best price: $7.25
Price in other shops: $14.95
Selected Poems And Four Plays ImageSelected Poems And Four Plays
by William Butler Yeats
Scribner; Published: 1996-09-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.98
Price in other shops: $17.00
After the Wake: Twenty-One Prose Works Including Previously Unpublished Material (Classic Irish Fiction) ImageAfter the Wake: Twenty-One Prose Works Including Previously Unpublished Material (Classic Irish Fiction)
by Brendan Behan
O'Brien Press; Published: 1981-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $87.56
Borstal Boy ImageBorstal Boy
Release date: 2002-10-15; DVD
Best price: $14.65
Price in other shops: $29.99
Brendan Behan: A Life ImageBrendan Behan: A Life
by Michael O'Sullivan
Roberts Rinehart Publishers; Published: 1999-06-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.33
Price in other shops: $28.00
The Complete Plays: The Hostage, The Quare Fellow, Richard's Cork Leg (Black Cat Book) ImageThe Complete Plays: The Hostage, The Quare Fellow, Richard's Cork Leg (Black Cat Book)
by Brendan Behan
Grove Press; Published: 1994-01-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops: $15.00
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories