Kurzweil does the delightfully unexpected: He morphs his story from a poignant memoir into a true-crime thriller.
NPR.org Whipping Boy is like nothing I've ever read, an investigative memoir that's honest, funny, sad, and edge-of-the-chair suspenseful. I loved it.
Dan Okrent, author of Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition Whipping Boy reads like a European version of American Hustle...Full of intrigue and suspense, the story follows the bizarre twists and turns of one man's journey to find and confront his childhood tormentor-ready-made for a film treatment.
Kirkus Reviews Whipping Boy is much more than the search for a bully. Kurzweil takes readers on a suspenseful and thrilling ride.
Bookish Pleasure-packed...makes the wily con artists in American Hustle look stuffy by comparison.
Details A fascinating, multi-pronged morality tale about victimhood, skewed perception and the liberation of facing your demons.
Washington Post A captivating hybrid of investigative journalism and memoir...Kurzweil is not simply settling a private score; he's standing up for anyone who has ever been bullied.
Chicago Tribune A memoir that reads like a thriller as the author circles the globe to find the man who made his boarding school days a living hell.
Tampa Bay Times Kurzweil crafts an entertaining, sharply reported picaresque centering on the colorful leaders of the scam, who bamboozled their marks by posing as monocled European aristocrats and produced a fake deed from the fictional King of Mombessa... A crime saga that's ripe with hilarious humbuggery.
Publishers Weekly This meditation on pain and memory...only sounds like fiction.
Library Journal I enjoyed Whipping Boy on so many levels. It's wonderfully conceived and wonderfully executed.
Ricky Jay, author of Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women: Unique, Eccentric and Amazing Entertainers