bildungswalton's reviews
259 reviews

An absolutely marvelous read. I read ‘Tollbooth’ for the first time at age 10 and at least twice more throughout my teenage years. The book was recommended to me by my dad, who’d also read it as a kid and told me that it was “a story for people who love words.” Naturally, I was sold. Eleven years after first picking up the book I am writing my senior English major thesis on language games and the non-normativity of childhood in ‘Tollbooth.’ Academic fascinations aside, I am eternally grateful to this book for all of the adventures it’s taken me on.

’Tollbooth’ is snappy, sardonic, and oddly moving; definitely one of those “you gotta read this before you die” kinda books! At once a zany fantasy novel, an astute criticism of the American educational system, and a meditation on the arbitrariness of language, this book will make your head spin in the best way possible.