Official Review: The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Fe...

Prisallen · Post by **Prisallen** » 11 Jun 2020, 15:48

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Fellow" by Vincent Burke.]

3 out of 4 stars

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The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Fellow is a memoir written by Vincent Burke. In 1938, when he was three years old, his father went off to work and disappeared, never to be seen again. His mother, who had been a housewife until then, suddenly had to take over generating the money for the household as well as raising two young children on her own (although with the help of kind neighbors). Mr. Burke was still young when he started realizing that he was attracted to boys rather than girls. However, this was in the 1940s and 1950s, so few people could admit it in those days without damage to their friendships, reputations, and jobs. Therefore, his private life had to be kept a secret.

He pursued diverse careers over the years, managing to create wealth, and lived in several countries. Mr. Burke found love as well as success, failure, friendship, adventure, happiness, and sadness.

The author’s prose entices the reader into his life, and it feels like he is a friend telling about his past. It is descriptive, entertaining, and easy to understand. I laughed frequently and also cried a few times. Frequent pictures aid the reader to see the people and places that he is describing. It is like looking at a friend’s photo album.

I enjoyed the author’s sense of humor when talking about himself and also when recalling events in his life. I think this was my favorite thing about the book. An example is while talking about his landlord, “If I knew any ‘adult’ words in my early youth, they came from him. He would sit on his front porch in a metal chair, shaded by the green-striped awning, eating red hot pepper after red hot pepper from his garden in the back, and find relief from the burn by unleashing a torrent of uncensored invective against the very food he continued to consume.”

Loving to travel, I appreciated the descriptions of life in other countries. It was quite fascinating to view the pictures and read about their day-to-day life in France and England. I especially liked the descriptions and pictures of their chateau in France.

Because the author is gay, it might deter some readers from his book. According to Mr. Burke, “However, on August 29, 2019, the New York Times reported on a large study, appearing in Science, that contradicted some other studies and concluded that there was not just one gene involved in same sex orientation, but many genes.” If that is true, then how can others prejudge them on that basis since that is how they were created? Even if you don’t believe homosexuality is acceptable, it could be an eye-opener to see what gay people had to endure (and still do in some places).

Even though he was raised a Catholic, the author underwent a loss of faith as an adult, and he cites his reasons for not believing in God. In addition, the author admits to being a liberal-minded person. Conservative and Christian readers who would have a problem with this may not enjoy the book very much.

The book could have been organized a little better. I observed several incidences in which the information was repeated. There was one picture seen in two different places (Jack’s home when they met). In addition, there were too many grammatical and punctuation errors. This was my least favorite aspect of the book. It could use a professional editor.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the author’s extraordinary life. Therefore, it achieves a rating of three out of four stars. One star is removed due to the errors and the repetition of information. I enthusiastically recommend it to readers who appreciate memoirs about living as a gay man in the twentieth century, people who enjoy traveling or at least reading about other places, and those who admire someone willing to take chances in life. Derogatory words that the author heard over the years were used in the book and one definite profanity.

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The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Fellow
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Samgum50 · Post by **Samgum50** » 13 Jun 2020, 03:03

Great review! This is definitely going to be an eye opening read. Reading Mr Burke's perspective is definitely going to be interesting.

Ellylion · Post by **Ellylion** » 13 Jun 2020, 09:01

I believe it's an engaging and very interesting memoir, given from some different perspective

I would love to give it a try. Thank you for a great review!

ANVO · Post by **ANVO** » 13 Jun 2020, 11:09

By reading the review, I have already been transported into the mind and life of the author! Haha. This book seems like a real eye opener as it is first hand account of what gay people May have gone through in those times. Anything that sheds light on “occurrences of old” is something I would love to read. This is such a great review, thanks!

do20 · Post by **do20** » 13 Jun 2020, 14:00

After reading your review, I imagined how hard his life has been since he was born in a catholic family as well as how he managed to overcome people's judgements. The author's life experience remain taboo in some societies even nowadays. I would definitely love to read this book. Great review.

Teddyquam · Post by **Teddyquam** » 13 Jun 2020, 15:08

I picture a Grandfather telling stories of his life from the title of this book. Definitely sounds like a good autobiography, shame about the errors

Prisallen · Post by **Prisallen** » 14 Jun 2020, 08:34

Samgum50 wrote: ↑13 Jun 2020, 03:03 Great review! This is definitely going to be an eye opening read. Reading Mr Burke's perspective is definitely going to be interesting.

It's interesting to see the life that someone led during those years. It gives us a bit of history as well. Thanks for stopping by!

Prisallen · Post by **Prisallen** » 14 Jun 2020, 08:36

Ellylion wrote: ↑13 Jun 2020, 09:01 I believe it's an engaging and very interesting memoir, given from some different perspective I would love to give it a try. Thank you for a great review!

I hope you do read it. I think you would enjoy it! Thanks for reading my review!

Prisallen · Post by **Prisallen** » 14 Jun 2020, 08:47

ANVO wrote: ↑13 Jun 2020, 11:09 By reading the review, I have already been transported into the mind and life of the author! Haha. This book seems like a real eye opener as it is first hand account of what gay people May have gone through in those times. Anything that sheds light on “occurrences of old” is something I would love to read. This is such a great review, thanks!

I hope you get a chance to read it. I don't think you would be disappointed!

Prisallen · Post by **Prisallen** » 14 Jun 2020, 08:50

do20 wrote: ↑13 Jun 2020, 14:00 After reading your review, I imagined how hard his life has been since he was born in a catholic family as well as how he managed to overcome people's judgements. The author's life experience remain taboo in some societies even nowadays. I would definitely love to read this book. Great review.

It is hard to understand the prejudices that are out there. I hope you get to read the book. Thanks for the comments!

Prisallen · Post by **Prisallen** » 14 Jun 2020, 08:56

Teddyquam wrote: ↑13 Jun 2020, 15:08 I picture a Grandfather telling stories of his life from the title of this book. Definitely sounds like a good autobiography, shame about the errors

He is able to tell his life in an interesting way, for sure. Hopefully, he will get the errors fixed. Thanks for the comments!

sirbobthewise · Post by **sirbobthewise** » 14 Jun 2020, 19:58

The author was very brave in writing out his story and sharing it with the world. His vulnerability and openness are commendable, especially because I’m sure there is a lot to learn from his experience. It sounds like there were many different factors that added to his difficulty during the time, but I hope that the story ends up with him happy. I love the aspect of traveling, as it adds more layers to his story. Great review!

Prisallen · Post by **Prisallen** » 15 Jun 2020, 07:35

sirbobthewise wrote: ↑14 Jun 2020, 19:58 The author was very brave in writing out his story and sharing it with the world. His vulnerability and openness are commendable, especially because I’m sure there is a lot to learn from his experience. It sounds like there were many different factors that added to his difficulty during the time, but I hope that the story ends up with him happy. I love the aspect of traveling, as it adds more layers to his story. Great review!

I couldn't agree with you more, and I do appreciate that he was willing to share with experiences with everyone. Thanks for the comments!

Mutai Marshal · Post by **Mutai Marshal** » 16 Jun 2020, 09:34

As much as I stand against "gayism" I believe everyone deserves respect irregardless of their sexual orientation. Thanks for the review

Caffrey_19 · Post by **Caffrey_19** » 16 Jun 2020, 10:38

This book, or should I say memoir, possesses quite a lot of features. I just hope the events are not too captivating for the audience. I enjoyed your review.