Author Topic: Waynes Meltdown Memoir!! Reviewed honestly for the 3rd time. (Read 8384 times)

DannyB II · « **on:** February 23, 2012, 07:56:41 PM »

http://www.amazon.com/Life-Gone-Awry-Sc ... t_ep_dpt_2

By Michael T Pedone - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: A Life Gone Awry: My Story of the Elan School (Kindle Edition)
The author seems to have an interesting and important story to tell. Prior to reading this, I was not aware of the Elan School, the horrible things that allegedly occurred there, or the abuses that apparently occur at other similar programs. These are undoubtedly things we should seek to understand and prevent from reoccurring.

But here's the problem: The writing just isn't very good. This book really illustrates how digital self-publishing is a double-edged sword. It gives us access to stories that might otherwise be ignored by the big publishing houses, but it forces us to muddle through writing that needs editing and, in this case, could probably have benefited from a co-author. This book was a bit hard to follow in some spots (I'm only about 90% clear about what was involved in a "shot down", and it took most of the book to get there). It also includes a couple of sub-plot lines that aren't fully explored (I'm sure it was traumatic, but it would really help to know what happened in that basement). The epilogue almost reads like stream-of-consciousness -- it raised more questions than it answered for me.

Unfortunately, I think the author's credibility is undermined by the weak writing and the fact that he is apparently self-published. The accusations in the book are pretty harsh. It feels like a rant sometimes, and a rant without corroborative support from an editor who insists on fact-checking isn't entirely credible. To be clear, I'm not taking a position about the truth or falseness of the book. I'm just saying it's difficult to know one way or the other with confidence.

Bottom line: It's an interesting story, but a mediocre read. A moderately fast reader should be able to bang it out in one night, maybe two. It's priced right at $2.99.

DannyB II · « **Reply #1 on:** February 23, 2012, 08:06:57 PM »

Well hell when Albert Beauchane is feeding you the story and his story ends 11/78 and you have told everyone you were there till 1980, you got a freaking problem Wayne. Your memoir could not have been more detailed, you didn't fucking have the details. You plagiarized story after story so you could grab folks attention and paid little attention to corroboration. The bozo's here who are supporting you are doing it out of a sense of duty or because it is me. Wayne if I had not pissed the people off I had, you don't have a book. I have always known this and would not want to change a thing.
The gentleman who critic your crap said pretty much what every professional has said that I have talked with. The corroboration was needed and this is something you will never have. The onus is on you to prove the shit you wrote, dumbass.

Anonymous · « **Reply #2 on:** February 23, 2012, 08:15:58 PM »

You forgot this one

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By
Shaeeza Haniff "storyteller" (NY) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: A Life Gone Awry: My Story of the Elan School (Paperback)
Years ago in Guyana, when I was eleven years, my family and I lived in Onderneeming Compound on the Essequibo Coast. Onderneeming was known for the "Boys' School". A reform school for delinquent boys run by the Guyanese government. We're told by our parents to never, EVER talk to the boys who were allowed outside. They had a watchdog system off record to make sure the boys did not come in close contact with the officers' children. But we were invited to their Christmas shows and movie nights. Some of the boys were allowed to do yard work in our compound. Every Saturday afternoon we would take over my mom's breads, cakes and rolls for the boys to put into their humongous oven. Never once did we talk to them. That was the extent of my experience with "bad boys".

Wayne Kernochan's book A Life Gone Awry: My Story of the Elan School has certainly opened my eyes to a life alien to me. Never in my wildest dreams and I've had many, would I ever come across a tumultuous life as young Wayne has endured. In reading this book, I paused more than once appalled at the atrocities and mind boggling treatment these young lives suffered.

Wayne has once again laid bare his deepest fears, monsters, trials, shame and he does it with the most honest voice. He faces his own soul searching and orientation during his stay in Elan. His description of the events that happened in the basement of the house in Brooklyn and the events leading up to his eventual stay in Elan is tastefully done and leaves the reader to his imagination as this book is about Elan and not about Wayne himself.

The dedication of this book to all the victims of such schools is heart wrenching and brings tears to the eyes as these victims were once someone's child.

Read it and spread the word about Elan School.

Anonymous · « **Reply #3 on:** February 23, 2012, 08:16:34 PM »

And this

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By
Ginger - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: A Life Gone Awry: My Story of the Elan School (Kindle Edition)
Finally got a chance to read this book. It's well written and sooo familiar. My family was involved in a very similar cult called The Seed back in the `70's. Most of the rules had to do with constraints on communication. No talking out in group, no newcomers talking to newcomers, no talking to splits, pull offs or even graduates, no talking behind backs, no "getting into your head" (reflection), what goes on in group stays in group, anonymity and confidentiality. Believe it or not, I could go on! And so one day, long ago, it occurred to me that it might do wonders if we could just remove that one linchpin in the Program. RAMPANT talking out in group is what is needed. Broaden the dialog on every front and see what happens. I'd love to see this book turned into a screen-play, or at least a cameo in a popular drama.

Good work, Wayne. Glad to know ya!

Anonymous · « **Reply #4 on:** February 23, 2012, 08:17:17 PM »

and

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By
Dodge Dart (Classic Chrysler City) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Life Gone Awry: My Story of the Elan School (Kindle Edition)
Elan is a hell hole and places like it are not unique. You have so many all along the Eastern Seaboard, like the Heck facility where Jon Carey was beaten to death earlier in 2011. That was in the NY Times. You have Green Chimneys in Brewster NY where beatings have gone on for many years along with other kinds of abuse. You also have places like some of the Devereaux branches too. Wayne does not down play the atrocities that went on in this place. Elan is an ironic name because instead of "vigorous spirit and enthusiasm," like the dictionary definition, you get crushed spirits and brutalized. Wayne saved many people because RTC'ers are good at fooling people to leave their kids in places like these. And RTCs are in isolated places where if you scream for help you dont' get heard. People who work in these places have all kinds of backgrounds and anything can happen to you once you are in one.

Anonymous · « **Reply #5 on:** February 23, 2012, 08:18:32 PM »

NY Times Best Selling author Jenna Glatzer

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Oct 10, 2011
Jenna Glatzer rated it
Disturbing and real and raw. It's about the author's experiences at the Elan School, which was billed as a school for troubled teens, but was more like a house of horrors. The kids spent most of their days screaming or being screamed at, paddling each other, wearing humiliating signs and costumes, scrubbing bathrooms, and planning escapes. The writing is excellent, though the grammar is imperfect. It's a story well worth reading, and relevant to today's "troubled teen boot camp" trends

Anonymous · « **Reply #6 on:** February 23, 2012, 08:19:08 PM »

This is my personal favorite

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"Wayne's book about Elan, lucid vivid, captures the gist and grinding of what it was like to be in Elan, even during my time which was 7/74 to 7/76(a couple of years before Wayne) This book touches me to my very being. It cuts through to the marrow of my bones."~Matt Hoffman

Anonymous · « **Reply #7 on:** February 23, 2012, 08:19:41 PM »

And this

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By
AC Links "Publisher" (Williamsburg, VA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: A Life Gone Awry: My Story of the Elan School (Kindle Edition)
I too downloaded this #1 bestseller in Kindle True Crime category asking myself "What is keeping my book in the #2 spot?" Well with a raised eyebrow I started to read my competition's #1 Bestseller.

It was only when I got to the second chapter that I realized this author had sucked me into what was going to become such a powerful story. I had no idea of what a great written book this would be and now I see why it is #1. It was very easy to read even with my dinner plate in hand. I did not want to put my tablet down and read it right from start to finish.

I have always said everyone has a story to tell. I have to say this is a must tell and must read.

I would recommend this book hands down.

Anonymous · « **Reply #8 on:** February 23, 2012, 08:20:25 PM »

And another

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By
Fran/Books And Beyond - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: A Life Gone Awry: My Story of the Elan School (Kindle Edition)
This book was written by someone I had come to know and respect via Facebook, emails, etc.

This story is gritty and gets to the heart of the matter and it's true. When parents wonder what really happens when they send their kids to programs and entrust them to care for their kids in every way you now know. It may be a different treatment center, different M.O. but you get a good idea of whats what and realize you MUST investigate and NOT trust a brochure.

This true story touched me and made me mad all at once. How a place so monstrous was allowed open for so long is appalling.

Read it, everyone. Not just ppl who have troubled kids but maybe you were a kid like that or knew a kid who went away or maybe you just want to learn the truth. Read it and believe it.

Anonymous · « **Reply #9 on:** February 23, 2012, 08:21:02 PM »

Tell me when you've seen enough

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By
tarnation - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Life Gone Awry: My Story of the Elan School (Kindle Edition)
Every parent having problems with their child and must consider sending them to a residential program must read this book first. It will give you a thorough understanding of why children leave these places and are no better and sometimes worse. I read it cover to cover in one overnight session. And I'm grateful that I was never sent to such a place.

Anonymous · « **Reply #10 on:** February 23, 2012, 08:21:45 PM »

Another

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First Friday AW Review: A Life Gone Awry: My Story of the Elan School by Wayne Kernochan

I’ve done a lot of book reviews, but I’ve never read a nonfiction book more painful and eye-opening than Wayne Kernochan’s book. His memories are laid down bare, and the narrative is a staccato, matter-of-fact voice, almost like an old-fashioned light-bulb interrogation in a faded police movie.

The abuse he describes during his years at the Elan school is shocking and sad. I can’t imagine anyone benefiting from beatings, emotional abuse and humiliation, let alone an entire facility thinking this program would be a good idea for teenagers with emotional problems. The description is powerful, and occasionally it literally is blow-by-blow as teens are beaten for hours or forced to fight with each other.

His recollections paint a vivid picture of inmates in charge of the asylum, ramping up the violence through control and frustration. There’s no mention of licensed therapists or other professionals intervening, which should be a chilling thought to any parent.

Even with the epilogue mentioning that the school finally closed in 2011, there doesn’t seem to be a happy ending here, and one would imagine that most of the kids processed through this facility suffer from PTSD at the least. Kernochan himself mentions that he went on to prison afterward.

As for the book’s style, I was a bit lost in the beginning, but that may have been the author’s choice to simulate his own innocence going into Elan. His personal history is mentioned later in the book, but I think it could be even more effective interspersed between the memories of Elan, showing his life before, during and even afterward. All together, it’s a young life torn asunder by ignorance and aggression, recorded for history’s sake by one brave survivor.

Anonymous · « **Reply #11 on:** February 23, 2012, 08:25:49 PM »

I respect Michael's review, but he's not a writer. Most of these people are

Jenna Glatzer writes books on writing Danjo

Anonymous · « **Reply #12 on:** February 23, 2012, 08:25:50 PM »

Thent there's this

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Danny Bennison
I have read Waynes book as many here. I will not be trying to compete with his writing skills nor length of his book. He beats me hands down. The book was mesmerizing to say the least.

You admitted to writing it Dan

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Moving on, post #8 above is in fact my writing. It was in response to his story. The second post #9 (The Manifesto) as Wayne calls it and says is mine was written by Mark Babbitz and Wayne himself. It is a parody and you can see this if you go to the Elan Site "I went to the Elan School" discussion forum and also if you go to the site "Fornits Wayward Fora" go to the Elan Forum. You can tell in the Fornits Site that it is not

Anonymous · « **Reply #13 on:** February 23, 2012, 08:36:26 PM »

Here's the best review of all Dan

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# Title    A Life Gone Awry: My Story of the Elan School

ASIN    B007055KA8

Units Sold 1187

Units Refunded 2

Net Units Sold 1185

Units Borrowed 4229

I get $2.25 per sale abd according to Amazon's KDP newsletter $1.60 per borrow

Yep, this is a lot of money Dan, and you know who I'm giving it to?

None of your business :nods:

I will have to pay the rent now that I'm making this kind of money, but my other books will cover that. The best part is you have to shut your stupid abusive mouth about me being disabled

Thanks for not shutting your face about the book though. You're all the promotion I needed :rofl:

Anonymous · « **Reply #14 on:** February 24, 2012, 01:14:07 PM »

Done with this conversation Dan?

Nice yakking with ya

:shamrock:

Fornits
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