April Fools Day Books

I've got to be honest, I've read 6 pages of this book, and this was over the shoulder of someone on the bus this morning.

But that was more than enough

In these pages, 2 people became drug addicts (my grandmother could write a more accurate account of amphetamine addiction), one became HIV positive, and went to a dentist. I was shocked at the content and at the thought that a seemingly normal young lady could be reading what i assumed was some fundamentalist christian propaganda wrapped up as a light romance novel. When I saw the cover, and consequently the author, I was shocked.

I am, by no means a Bryce Courtenay fan, but I did read "The power of one" when i was about 10 at my grandparents on holidays and seem to remember it as being more appealing than spending time with my family. But this book (based on those six pages) is so incredibly awful that it prompted my to write a review of it on amazon. I was so appalled at the content I had to check myself to ensure I didn't snatch it out of the readers hands and rip it into pieces.

Bryce Courtenay, I hope you meant well by this, but you have produced nothing but pointless poorly written fluff.

I was amazed that the person below thought to put a review in for a book he hasn't read.
From the Dymocks web site's description of the book gives a more accurature description. "Bryce Courtney's beloved son Damon, a haemophiliac, died from medically-acquired AIDS on Aprils Fool's day 1991, at the age of 24."

Damon did not chose to have haemophilia, he didn't chose to have blood transfusions and he didn't chose to get HIV. Drugs addiction is not an issue here. It is about a disease caught by no fault of the victim.

I can't believe this book is out of print, it should be required reading for medical students. Although the medical information here is (thankfully) out of date, I can say from first hand experience (UK) that there are still plenty of ignorant, arrogant people working in the medical "profession". That Bryce Courtney found the strength to put his book together is quite amazing, though no doubt a lot of it was driven by justifiable anger and bitterness. Whilst I know a lot about the gay side of Aids, I was fairly unaware of what haemophiliacs have been through, though it is now common knowledge that they were well and truly screwed by governments and health systems in many countries. Bryce Courtney's testament to "the mighty Damon", his son, is constantly heartbreaking, whilst never sinking into sentimentality. I do hope this book will be reprinted at some point, ideally with an update on the current medical situation, for the benefit of any readers who may be in the Courtney family's position and being kept in the dark by their doctors. Whilst Aids is no longer the death sentence it was, books like this are very, very important in the fight for compassion and understanding that still goes on in this terrible war. May the Courtney family find peace.

I had real trouble with this one. I loved "The Power of One", and hated "Tandia", so I was hoping that "April Fool's Day" would show me whether Bryce Courtenay was a wonderful writer or whether "The Power of One" was a one-off. It did neither. The only thing that it did do for me was explain why "Tandia" was so awful -- working under strict publishing deadlines while his child is extremely ill must have been extremely upsetting.

On the one hand, I applaud Mr. Courtenay for publishing such a personal experience, as I don't know whether I could be as frank as he has been in front of an unknown audience. It certainly would make interesting reading for health-care professionals who treat terminally ill people (not just those with HIV/AIDS/ARC).

On the other hand, the story didn't grab me by the heart. I didn't find Damon particularly heroic, even though I realize that he went through hell for most of his life between the haemophilia and HIV. He was a man who had a pre-existing condition, contracted a disease and lived with and died from the disease. He is no different from anyone who has cancer or any other terminal illness, nor is he different from any other person who consistently has been discriminated against. His story's a personal tragedy, but I didn't get the feeling of the awful things that happened to him a community tragedy... what happened to him is called "life".

Mr. Courtenay gets full marks for detail and poignancy. At times, I did feel that I was going through the process with the Courtenay family... and that made finishing the novel difficult. For example, I thought that I didn't want to go to the hospital AGAIN several times throughout my reading of the book. I liked the depictions of Damon's interactions with his family and caregivers and how Damon addressed obstacles in his treatment as both patient and person.

By the same token, the book was almost too detailed and repetitious in places, leaving me to wonder if I really cared if Damon made it to the next chapter. This also had the result of my feeling like Mr. Courtenay's counsellor/psychotherapist in many places throughout the book, which irritated me.

I'm not sure what to think about this book. It's definitely not a light read, and has some good points, but I don't think that it's one of Mr. Courtenay's must-reads. I'll have to read the next Courtenay book to make my decision on what kind of writer he is.

Bryce Courtenay has shared with us not only the life but the death of his beloved son from Aids in this warm,real ,sad yet beautiful book.It's not only about the experience of losing a loved one,but it also lets us know just how real the disease is...no matter how it is acquired.Bryce's son tragically contracted the virus via blood transfusions needed for his Haemophilia(a blood disorder).This book not only tells us of the courage of young Damien,but also of the power of love his family and girlfriend showed.It also hits on the prejudice and discimination experienced by those with the HIV and makes you realize that that approach is neither necassary nor right. This book is a must for everybody.....It left me breathless,tearful yet stronger.

I really thought this book was awful. It was boring. Plus Anne Martin never abbriviated words, It was awlways, "I do not want to" instead of "I don't want to" or something like that. It got so boring i couldnt even finish it. For those of you who want to read a GOOD book you should read Animorphs. The auther of them knows how to write a good story and knows how to abbriviate.

This book was so funny! Karen played a lot of really funny jokes on people. I liked the joke she tried to play on her family, but then the joke didn't work.I laughed a lot.

It was a good book. What happened is Mary-Kate and her friends get picked to be on the April fools team and Ashley does not get picked. So Ashley runs for queen of fools because her boyfriend ross is running for king of fools. Ashley won and became quen of fools but Ross did not win. Who did? To find out buy the book and read it.

April Fool Champ is a great little story. It's very funny and can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike.