Hi, I'm Lavar Burton and this is Lavar Burton Reads.

In every episode I hand-pick a different piece of short fiction and I read it to you.

The only thing these stories have in common is that I love them and I hope you will too.

Today I'm going to read Flyboys by the author Tobias Wolf.

It's from a collection of his entitled Our Story Begins, published by Vintage Books and

it also appears in audio from Blackstone Audio.

Now Tobias is probably best known for his memoir and for his short works.

He wrote a very popular memoir about his own adolescence called This Boy's Life, which

was adapted into a film.

He also wrote the novel Old School and several collections of stories, among other things.

This is a story about three boys, classmates, friends growing up in the late 1950s or early

60s.

Tobias doesn't give us the boys, ages or their race but it seems pretty reasonable to

assume that they are white and maybe 12 to 13 years old.

Probably the age where you're old enough to think you know a lot and to bluff your way

through the rest but young enough to still be a child.

To be honest, I struggled with this story and the choices that our main character has

to make and that's exactly why I wanted to read it to you.

Please check out the content advisory if you are so inclined and if you're ready.

Let's take that deep breath.

And let's begin.

Slime Boys by Tobias Wolf.

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