“You Don’t Know How It Feels” by Tom Petty – You Don’t Know How It Feels is a collection of short stories. One story in this collection, “Don’t Take Me Alive,” describes the life of a Southern belle who becomes engaged to a much older man and he prepares her for the worst. This book has a great deal of sadness and heartache as its main characters prepare for their eventual separation. The author leaves us in suspense as we wait to see what happens.
“You Don’t Know How It Feels” is the first in a series of six: All of them are sad and heart wrenching. In one story, petty has started to get a bad rap because of his involvement in the heroin trade in his hometown of Muscle Beach. In another, he’s just lost his darling grandmother who he tries to help but gets caught up in the wrong crowd and ends up beating on an assailant after she nearly misses a chance to stab him with a large knife.
The stories in these collections shine: a light on a small section of humanity that often gets ignored or looked over. People often don’t realize how much their lives are affected by the people around them. Petty’s character, Geraldine, is a perfect example. This is partially because she is a Liver, a member of an ethnic group that is often underrepresented in books about African Americans.
It is sad that she had to lose everything: She always tried to keep a good attitude, even though she was so unhappy. “You Don’t Know How It Feels” is a wonderful book for any age. It doesn’t matter if you are in your teens, twenties, thirties, or forties. This book will appeal to everyone because it deals with a subject matter that affects all of us.
It should be mandatory: that teachers teach reading to children from birth to age twelve. Reading should also be encouraged in homes. That is why “You Don’t Know How It Feels” is such an important publication. It teaches kids from a young age that reading is not about only reading. It is about understanding the language and the culture as well.
Children learn from books: so they should be encouraged to learn. “You Don’t Know How It Feels” encourages young kids to understand why reading is so important. There is so much life waiting for kids of all ages to discover.
Reading should be fun, and reading should be something that promotes discovery. That is what “You Don’t Know How It Feels” helps kids do. Reading should be fun.