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| The Book Mark |
Synopsis:
Set in New England’s South Shore in the late 1950’s, Never
Play Leapfrog with a Unicorn is the story of blue-collar New
Englanders and their struggles to survive daily their
neighbors, the yearly invasion of summer folks, the Avon
lady, and ultimately, each other.
Written from the perspective of a precocious boy’s sheltered
upbringing, this is a tale of lies, half-truths, and the
outrageous antics of whacky neighbors and relatives.
Never Play Leapfrog with a Unicorn is chock full of humor,
heartbreak and joy. Best described by author Frank W.
Bosworth as a "dramedy," Unicorn is a quirky story about
life filled with drama, comedy and tragedy. If you have ever
paused to whine about your plight in life, there is little that
you could have experienced as dehumanizing or cruel as the
hero of Never Play Leapfrog With A Unicorn.
| Never Play Leapfrog with a Unicorn! ...a DRAMEDY... by F.W. BOSWORTH |
About the Author
Always the observer, FW has spent a lifetime with the notion he is on the outside
looking in. Everything gets noticed and noted, very little escapes. Needing a creative release,
theatre, and all the boundless expression the stage allows, found him in his mid-twenties, catching him quite
by surprise. An actor, director, producer, stand-up comic, poet, street performer, lover of the short story, he
realized writing was the one thread binding them, holding him, together. Writing is the one area he feels
totally at ease with. Out on his own early in life, at times he has had to survive on sheer wit, wily ways, and
wishful wisdom. Where to some life is a test, FW likens it more to a pop-quiz. Only those quick enough,
creative enough, witty enough to react, are allowed to move on to the next experience, the next round. Over
the years, luck, fate, and roads traveled, have put, placed, dropped, a wealth of colorful characters in his
path. He read somewhere, "Writers write best writing of what they know." So with, "Never Play Leapfrog
with a Unicorn", he has decided to start at the beginning, chronicling the oft times funny, oft times
emotional, oft times dramatic, yet always colorful characters chance assembled to orbit his formative youth.
So sit back, put your feet up, pull the box of Junior Mints ® a bit closer. The show is about to begin...
Paperback: 204 Pages ISBN-13: 9781412013055 List Price: $19.60 Availability: In Stock Amazon.com Barnes&Noble.com AuthorsDen.com |
The Review Store:
Many of those men and women who are gifted
comedians—I mean the really good ones—have
ironically led lives filled with hardships and tragedies;
personal histories so dark and bleak we have to
wonder how they ever managed to transcend them,
much less find anything to laugh about. It makes me
wonder if perhaps their gift of wit was actually a
direct result of the pain they must have felt—a way to
remove themselves from it. Or better yet, a way to
reshape, under the guise of hilarity, the absurdity and
unreasonableness of their world. Gaining a kind of
control. Making it bearable.
That having been said, I feel as though I, in reading F.
W. Bosworth’s “Never Play Leapfrog With a
Unicorn!” became a front row spectator of just that—
the difficult life of a little boy surrounded by his
dysfunctional family, the bleakness of his plight, and
his own sometimes skewed but always honest insights
into the human psyche with which he pulled himself
up and rode his tidal wave of despair, somehow
finding a way to survive it all.
Don’t get me wrong. It was funny. From the first few
pages, Bosworth pulled me into his plight, showed me
around, and God help me, I laughed, and laughed
hard. And at the same time I felt for the little boy who
was just trying to find his place among all the
craziness. I felt badly for him, but then he made me
laugh again. Which should now explain my guilty little
stab at amateur psychology.
Through it all, I loved F.W. Bosworth’s charming and
multi-faceted humor, his strangely-timed bouts of
sensitivity, his appreciation for and his obvious love
for his “’Lil Black Dad.”
I’m glad this gifted comedian transcended.
Lovingly included in a personal collection of my
favorite good reading, “Never Play Leapfrog With a
Unicorn!” is a keeper, for sure.
--Leann Marshall
Frank Bosworth’s Unicorn is a one-of-a-kind, self-
portrait of a child’s coming grimly of age. Herein we
encounter a comical parade of too many dysfunctional
lives etched upon an appropriate canvas of weeping
willow. Sad, unrelentingly cruel, often artificially
poignant, and carefully laced with an occasional
heartfelt guffaw, “Unicorn” is not funny. There is
nothing funny here. We are left with the poor
visual of a small boy in an even smaller dinghy on a
lonely beach with the sound of a single oar . . .
rowing. Happily, Bosworth survives all, never
whining, with a loving twinkle in his one good eye. A
worthy read, from the pen of a gifted writer.
--J M. Humperjohn
comedians—I mean the really good ones—have
ironically led lives filled with hardships and tragedies;
personal histories so dark and bleak we have to
wonder how they ever managed to transcend them,
much less find anything to laugh about. It makes me
wonder if perhaps their gift of wit was actually a
direct result of the pain they must have felt—a way to
remove themselves from it. Or better yet, a way to
reshape, under the guise of hilarity, the absurdity and
unreasonableness of their world. Gaining a kind of
control. Making it bearable.
That having been said, I feel as though I, in reading F.
W. Bosworth’s “Never Play Leapfrog With a
Unicorn!” became a front row spectator of just that—
the difficult life of a little boy surrounded by his
dysfunctional family, the bleakness of his plight, and
his own sometimes skewed but always honest insights
into the human psyche with which he pulled himself
up and rode his tidal wave of despair, somehow
finding a way to survive it all.
Don’t get me wrong. It was funny. From the first few
pages, Bosworth pulled me into his plight, showed me
around, and God help me, I laughed, and laughed
hard. And at the same time I felt for the little boy who
was just trying to find his place among all the
craziness. I felt badly for him, but then he made me
laugh again. Which should now explain my guilty little
stab at amateur psychology.
Through it all, I loved F.W. Bosworth’s charming and
multi-faceted humor, his strangely-timed bouts of
sensitivity, his appreciation for and his obvious love
for his “’Lil Black Dad.”
I’m glad this gifted comedian transcended.
Lovingly included in a personal collection of my
favorite good reading, “Never Play Leapfrog With a
Unicorn!” is a keeper, for sure.
--Leann Marshall
Frank Bosworth’s Unicorn is a one-of-a-kind, self-
portrait of a child’s coming grimly of age. Herein we
encounter a comical parade of too many dysfunctional
lives etched upon an appropriate canvas of weeping
willow. Sad, unrelentingly cruel, often artificially
poignant, and carefully laced with an occasional
heartfelt guffaw, “Unicorn” is not funny. There is
nothing funny here. We are left with the poor
visual of a small boy in an even smaller dinghy on a
lonely beach with the sound of a single oar . . .
rowing. Happily, Bosworth survives all, never
whining, with a loving twinkle in his one good eye. A
worthy read, from the pen of a gifted writer.
--J M. Humperjohn
Never Play Leapfrog With A Unicorn is a total change of pace -- as
in a non-stop stampede of naughty, heartbreaking & giggle-inducing
dialogues & troubles.
Not sure if it's part memoir or wishful remembering, however, it is a
mad rush of breathless scenes as seen through the eyes of the son of
a miner with quite a lot of profound insights skating on the thin ice
of the insanity that afflicts dysfunctional families.
Wrap your mind around Never Play Leapfrog With A Unicorn and
see if you can look at your own life, without laughing.
Not all books have to be serious, and this one could stand up as a
routine at a comedy club.
--Rebecca Brown
While Never Play Leapfrog With A Unicorn is well worth the small
cost, I was CHEAP, and ordered a used book from Amazon, at about
half price. When the book arrived, about a week later, I immediately
read just the first chapter, then put it aside. Was just a busy time for
me. When I returned to it, a week later, I could not put it down!
From cover to cover Unicorn is cram-packed with the trials and
tribulations of a young, poor lad, told in the person of a naive youth -
with both grammar and spelling presented in the vernacular! One of
my all-time favorite authors is Samuel Clemens - Mark Twain, who
practically established this technique of writing - the way local
people spoke the language.
Compassion, growth and education of a boy as he tries to unravel the
confusions of life, are all presented herein. And the final beauty of
this novel is that he survives victorious, perhaps a tad scathed, but
not bitter.
On a scale of 1 to 10 - it is an ELEVEN! Treat yourself, employ all
the senses of: Empathy, Sympathy, and even Apathy (WOW - Glad
it was Not ME!).
CONGRATULATIONS! FRANK - This is a WINNER!
__Tom Hyland
If you enjoyed "World According to Garp", you'll love this book!
Quirky characters, hilarious situations and heart breaking realities.
Grabs you from the first page and pulls you in right to the last page.
I couldn't put it down.
--E.T.Burke
I proudly own four of these books. So well written, that I saw it as a
movie from first paragraph read. You must own this book before it
becomes a movie, because I'm affraid the movie won't do it justice.
Awesome job author!!!!!!!!!!
--Boja Stojisavljevic
in a non-stop stampede of naughty, heartbreaking & giggle-inducing
dialogues & troubles.
Not sure if it's part memoir or wishful remembering, however, it is a
mad rush of breathless scenes as seen through the eyes of the son of
a miner with quite a lot of profound insights skating on the thin ice
of the insanity that afflicts dysfunctional families.
Wrap your mind around Never Play Leapfrog With A Unicorn and
see if you can look at your own life, without laughing.
Not all books have to be serious, and this one could stand up as a
routine at a comedy club.
--Rebecca Brown
While Never Play Leapfrog With A Unicorn is well worth the small
cost, I was CHEAP, and ordered a used book from Amazon, at about
half price. When the book arrived, about a week later, I immediately
read just the first chapter, then put it aside. Was just a busy time for
me. When I returned to it, a week later, I could not put it down!
From cover to cover Unicorn is cram-packed with the trials and
tribulations of a young, poor lad, told in the person of a naive youth -
with both grammar and spelling presented in the vernacular! One of
my all-time favorite authors is Samuel Clemens - Mark Twain, who
practically established this technique of writing - the way local
people spoke the language.
Compassion, growth and education of a boy as he tries to unravel the
confusions of life, are all presented herein. And the final beauty of
this novel is that he survives victorious, perhaps a tad scathed, but
not bitter.
On a scale of 1 to 10 - it is an ELEVEN! Treat yourself, employ all
the senses of: Empathy, Sympathy, and even Apathy (WOW - Glad
it was Not ME!).
CONGRATULATIONS! FRANK - This is a WINNER!
__Tom Hyland
If you enjoyed "World According to Garp", you'll love this book!
Quirky characters, hilarious situations and heart breaking realities.
Grabs you from the first page and pulls you in right to the last page.
I couldn't put it down.
--E.T.Burke
I proudly own four of these books. So well written, that I saw it as a
movie from first paragraph read. You must own this book before it
becomes a movie, because I'm affraid the movie won't do it justice.
Awesome job author!!!!!!!!!!
--Boja Stojisavljevic