Jaclyn’s Review: The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King

The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers
written by Maxwell King
published by Harry N. Abrams, 2018

find it here: (affiliate links) Barnes & Noble, Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, Target, Walmart, Book Depository, Goodreads

Did I enjoy this book? Anyone who has ever seen an episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood will appreciate this book. Mister Rogers was an important part of my childhood, but also my identifying as someone from Pittsburgh. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the life of Mister Rogers (I simply cannot bring myself to refer to him by his first name). This biography included things I knew, but many many things I did not. However, I did not enjoy the writing in this book. I thought it was dry and read like a textbook. Reading this book was a labor of love–I wanted to read it, so I was going to read it! The author was very jumpy and used quotes from all different sources and time periods to force a point that he was trying to make. This book could have been a wonderful story about a wonderful man. Instead, it was a dull textbook with an amazing subject.

 

 

Would I recommend it? If you are interested in reading about Mister Rogers, this was a good read. The writing was very difficult to get past, so this is definitely not a leisurely read. However, if you are ready for a trip down memory lane and a lot of feel good stories, this book is for you!

 

 

About the book – from Goodreads: Fred Rogers (1928–2003) was an enormously influential figure in the history of television and in the lives of tens of millions of children. As the creator and star of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, he was a champion of compassion, equality, and kindness. Rogers was fiercely devoted to children and to taking their fears, concerns, and questions about the world seriously.

The Good Neighbor, the first full-length biography of Fred Rogers, tells the story of this utterly unique and enduring American icon. Drawing on original interviews, oral histories, and archival documents, Maxwell King traces Rogers’s personal, professional, and artistic life through decades of work, including a surprising decision to walk away from the show to make television for adults, only to return to the neighborhood with increasingly sophisticated episodes, written in collaboration with experts on childhood development. An engaging story, rich in detail, The Good Neighbor is the definitive portrait of a beloved figure, cherished by multiple generations.

 

 
 

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** This post first appeared on Every Free Chance Books (everyfreechance.com) on March 31, 2019.