The man who loved too much...what? Following the life of Billy, his singular attachment to his mother, his abusive father, his upbringing in Catholic school, his difficulty in high school, and ultimately, his on again/off again romance with Natalie leads the reader down some winding roads of insight, but ultimately leaves the reader asking what just happened? The narrative is strong in many places, leaving open the opportunity for great plot development, but just leaves so many of those opportunities unfulfilled. Obviously Natalie's Pam isn't just a "friend," but why allude to it for chapter after chapter, and leave the question unanswered? What is the relevance of Billy's insomnia, or his completely surreal dream? What does Billy learn from working all those part time jobs?

Lots of great details, but to what end? The book ends - abruptly - giving the reader no overriding purpose for Billy's existence. As a stand alone novel, it completely fails. After wading through some of the very heady prose to get to the first anti-climax, I won't likely pick up the second book to see if the questions are answered. I feel duped - investing all that energy into watching Billy's life unfold in exquisite detail, only to be kicked to the curb with zero resolution.

The writing was good to great, the editing left something to be desired, but the overall effect was pretty flat.

Billy Green certainly had an interesting life growing up which is what this book is about. Taking Billy from about the age of four until almost his junior year in college. His mother doted on him and his father was absolutely horrible to him. I could not believe some of the things that man said to Billy.

Billy was certainly funny in his ways of looking at things. I really enjoyed reading about Billy. There were a few times when it slowed down and I had to skip a few pages. However, for the most part, this was a very entertaining read. The descriptions and phrases used were hilarious at times. I pretty much sped through the pages, laughing most of the way, until Billy got to college and met Natalie. Then it sort of became redundant and rather lackluster. The ending . . .

Yeah, that's about it was. Then I realized there are more Billy books. If the rest of his time with Natalie is as unexciting as it was in this book, I don't think I have the desire to carry on. However, until that point, I was a huge Billy fan.

Thanks to Literary Vagabond Books and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Totally fell in love with Billy Green. After all who couldn when at the age of three he was tossed head first in a trash can by his father. Reminds me a little of a young Owen Meany especially in his younger years. Loads of laugh out loud moments.. A wonderful coming of age story. I look forward to the next one.