Alice N. Hungerford
In ["Boy Gets Car"] Henry Felsen explores the difficulties that beset Woody Ahern, a 16 year old boy who longs to own a car. A car is the object of his desire not only as something to labor over and improve but as a symbol of independence and liberation from boyhood. Felsen has performed a careful and patient service to both boys and parents in revealing the intricate nature of the relationship between a boy, a car, and his status in the teen-age world.
Always an experienced and skillful writer, he has maintained a highly interesting story and at the same time built into it a wealth of careful detail about the rebuilding of old cars which cannot fail to command the attention and respect of his readers. In addition he has created in the father of Woody a parent who, by patience, faith and control over his anxieties, is able to break down the youthful antagonism of a son who must have a car—no small feat for either parent or writer.
Alice N. Hungerford, "'Boy Gets Car'," in Chicago Sunday Tribune (© 1960 Chicago Tribune), November 6, 1960, p. 48.
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