David J. HalperinReseñas

The religious and spiritual aspects of UFOs was new and facilitating.

Author David Halperin investigates stories of UFO encounters not to settle the question of whether we've been visited by extraterrestrial beings but with the goal of identifying why those experiencing such encounters saw what they did. Halperin sets aside the arguments around what "really" happened, focusing instead on what the observers remember and report and what this means. What personal or collective trauma in combination with which myth or shared symbolism resulted in the specific vision of a flying saucer or strange lights or threatening men in dark suits? Even when facts are uncertain, stories still reveal truth.

Although I have limited interest in UFOs (beyond a brief obsession in my early teens which was an offshoot of my broader and longer-lasting love of the supernatural), as someone intrigued by the stories we tell ourselves and how these stories change over time, along with the slippery nature of memory, I found the premise of this book quite interesting.

Halperin observes that UFO sightings increase during times of cultural or historical upheaval, citing, for example, an increase in UFO sightings in Europe around the time the Berlin Wall fell. I wonder...are people seeing more UFOs during our current global pandemic? And if not, what are we seeing? How are our myths manifesting themselves during this crisis?

Did not finish. Waste of time.
58 members; 3.19 average rating; 11/22/2015

Journal of a UFO Investigator by David Halperin is a debut novel about a boy who is forced to be a shut in because of his ill mother. Danny Shapiro tries to enrich his life through a fantasy life he has invented for himself, involving alien invasion, ancient intelligent species, men in black, and enough conspiracies to keep Fox Mulder happy.

The set up of Journal is similar to Michael Ende's The Neverending Story. One could argue that it's just the tale of a boy hiding in his school's attic reading a really awesome book. Here, then, it's a boy stuck at home apparently writing an awesome book.

And there in lies the fundamental problem with this book. The fantasy sequences are so much better than the "coming of age" part that it's always a HUGE disappointment when the story shifts gears.

A coming of age story with a twist. At times funny and often pleasantly strange, this story still creates that heartache so familiar to fans of this kind of story.

I will admit up front: I am biased.

David Halperin, the author of this book, was one of the members of the writing group I started in North Carolina ten years ago. I read two of his previous (unpublished) novels. I have a high opinion of David, and I feel a great amount of joy that he's published this novel.

That being said, this is a very good book. I love the layers, and the way he plays with time. I love the interplay of myth, and the doubt about reality. I love the very literal and intense way that Danny, the main character, grows up. There's this understanding acquired through pain, this leaving behind of loved ones, this learning to live with regret, this feeling of ineluctable otherness, that I think mirrors emotionally the way it feels to be a teenager.

Danny writes, "Here's what I think: when we watch the sky, we're looking in the wrong direction. The real mystery is right here among us."

I look forward to reading this book again.

It started weird and got weirder- don't bother. I can't believe I finished it! I just kept hoping it would get better...

I'm really disappointed that I didn't like this book. I saw it in a Quality Paperback book club newsletter and was really interested, but didn't want to buy it because I wasn't sure if I'd like it enough to own it. So, I borrowed it from the library.

I knew that it wasn't strictly a science fiction novel. I went it to it having read other reviews. Still, I was disappointed. I ended the book wanting to knock the main character, Danny, around a little and tell him to get a grip. His friend Julian seemed so over-the-top arrogant that I dreaded reading anything involving him. Wouldn't recommend it and thankful I didn't buy it.

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway at the beginning of February and received it within a surprisingly short amount of time. This was another book that I approached without a full understanding of what I was getting myself into. You could say I didn't read the summary closely. Both the title and cover seem to imply some sort of quirky adventure about a kid who likes the idea of UFOs a little too much. However, as soon as I started reading, it quickly became clear that this novel was much more than that.Yes, it's an adventure but it's a deeply personal one that is much more about how a lonely teenager handles a dysfunctional family, loss and regret through one extended metaphor, which is the surreal UFO adventure he invents for himself. Halperin seemlessly weaves reality and fantasy together in an engaging narrative. This is especially effective in the novel's first pages where the switch happens very easily, the only cues coming from italicized words. I tend to read very fast, which would explain why there were some moments where I was just like, what is going on. I got used to Halperin's writing style fairly quickly though. It's simple but descriptive. Does that make sense? I don't know, I liked it. The story flowed, although I know that this is one story that's definitely not for everyone. For one, it deals with some dark issues, such as physical abuse and antisemitism, and there's also quite a bit of Awkward Teenage Moments. The subject matter itself might not appeal to everyone, as there exists a blend of religion with UFO mythology.I had to keep reminding myself that the majority of the story told throughout the novel is made-up by Danny himself. I read a couple of reviews where the reviewer noted this as detrimental to the story because there wasn't much overlap with Danny's real life. However, I didn't mind. The story Danny was telling was interesting albeit extremely bizarre and impossible, especially at certain points, but when the overlap with his life did happen? It worked. Towards the end, the overlap was especially significant. Although the Danny that speaks and acts for the majority of the novel is the real Danny's creation, I feel like this is insight enough into his character. It's clearly his way of dealing with awful things that have happened to him. But he's not a very dynamic character. He remains quiet and lonely. Yet, the novel ends on a slightly uplifting tone. At least that's how I read it. Danny grows up and it's bittersweet.So, it's like I said, Halperin makes things fit, but I wouldn't exactly encourage my fellow YA readers to pick this up. It's not exactly a light read, and it's far from the typical YA novel even though the protagonist is a teenager. This is for a more mature audience that can look beyond the surface to see what all the out-of-this-world scenarios really mean to Danny.(Review can also be found at my blog.)

It is 1963 and Danny Shapiro, who lives in the suburbs of Philadelphia, is thirteen and different. He wears glasses. He's into UFOs. He's Jewish in a mostly gentile environment. His father is distant and resentful and his mother is dying. She has been dying, in fact, since Danny was born; he's even been told that his birth so badly exacerbated her cardiac condition as to wreck her health forever. That's a big burden for a kid to carry, and it's no wonder he escapes into his UFO investigations.

Danny meets a group of kids, slightly older than he, who call themselves the Super Science Society (SSS). These young people--Julian, Tom, and the lovely and sexually precocious Rochelle--know all the same source material that Danny's been reading, books about men in black and alien abduction, but they seem to be privy to the stories behind the stories, as well. He is drawn into their world which, eventually, leads to a road trip and, finally Danny's own alien abduction.

Or is Danny just a sad, lonely kid, living a fantasy life so rich that the recording of it helps to keep the awful events of his real life at bay? As one reads Danny's journals, written three years later, in 1966, clarity ebbs and flows, as events become more outrageous and horrifying in the journal but Danny's home life intrudes more and more often.

With Journal of a UFO Investigator David Halperin has given us an exciting adventure tale and a poignant coming-of-age story presented through the scribblings of one troubled--but ultimately, it seems, okay--boy. Halperin marvelously captures the voice of a boy who is precocious intellectually but helplessly behind socially, and his longing for friends who get him and a girl who will love him.½

It was a great pleasure to read Journal of a UFO Investigator. Danny Shapiro is 13 and his mother is dying. Not only is she dying, but in an indirect way Danny's birth is the cause of her death. Coupled with the fact that Danny is a Jew in America of the Sixties, how much can a teen be expected to deal with? Danny deals with it all by concentrating on his study of UFOs. His teen years are populated with imaginary people and events he encounters as he keeps a journal on UFO activities. These imagined friends take the place of the real friends that he no longer has and they help him cope with his dying mother, his remote father and his religion. This is a wonderful coming of age book and the reader rejoices to see Danny Shapiro become Dan Shapiro.