by Jonathan Evison, Algonquin Books, August 2012
...definitely recommended
This is the story of Ben Benjamin, a 39 year old broken
man. He has lost everything, his home,
his marriage, his job and often his will to live. Ben, long a stay-at-home dad who hasn’t been
in the work force for 11 years has taken a home nursing course (hence the
title) and is employed as a caregiver to Trevor a 19 year old who has
late-stage Duchene muscular dystrophy. Ben and Trevor develop an unusual but effective relationship that culminates in
a road trip to see Trevor’s father in Las Vegas. As the road trip story unfolds the author
intersperses it with a recount of the events leading up to the tragedy that
happened some years previously to Ben’s family.
This is a sad book not doubt about it, but oddly it is also funny,
warm and ultimately redemptive. I don’t
want to give any of the key plot details because I really enjoyed the pace with
which the author told this story. You
know bad things happen but somehow rolling them out as the author does is
important in this story. The writing is
very good, no wasted words in the telling of this story. The dialogue between
Trevor and Ben seems so natural, it just flows along. During the road trip Ben and Trev pick up a
couple of characters who enrich the story, particularly Trev’s love
interest.
It would be hard to categorize this book – part road trip
tale, part coming of age story, part literary fiction – but it is definitely
one I’d recommend. There are enough
thought provoking issues in this story that would make it excellent for book
club discussions. I read this author’s
last book West of Here and wasn’t a big fan, but I really enjoyed this one –
just proves you shouldn’t give up too soon on a new author.
I read a copy of this novel provided by the publisher.
2 comments:
Oh, so glad you liked this one! Yours is the first review I have seen, and since I have this one, I am excited now to read it. I love it when a book wastes no words and is still rich and thoughtful, so this review was exciting for me. Thanks for sharing your reflections on this tale!
A thoroughly enjoyable read and it moved right along. Although the characters were quirky, this was one of those books that I didn't want to end, because I enjoyed riding along in their world (strange as it was).
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