Juvenile and lowbrow in tone, not the best introduction to the life of the man who created Middle-Earth. A lot of the asides seem asinine, and Coren's attempts to keep the writing fresh and original just come off as forced. In trying to embolden Tolkien's personal narrative, Coren only detracts from the man's story. A heavy emphasis on Tolkien's faith takes away a lot of focus from some of the other major factors in the author's life, including being in the trenches during World War One and his youth spent schooled by his mother. The extensive summaries of The Hobbit and Lord Of The Rings seemed unnecessary; who would read a biography of Tolkien and not be familiar with his works? Overall, might be good for the youngest readers it is aimed at, but anyone over the age of thirteen can do better. ( )

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Condescending doesn't begin to describe the tone of this tome, ostensibly written for the younger crowd (a Scholastic publicaton.) ( )

A great biography of one of the best authors in the history of literature. A bit brief, but still great. ( )

http://nylusmilk.wordpress.com/2007/01/01/j-r-r-tolkien-%e2%80%93-michael-coren/ ( )