Brutal and beautiful. His splashes of anger are so understandably human and welcome. ( )

This is a memoir of bereavement following the critical illness and ultimate death of the author’s 2-year-old son.
He is admirably open about his pain, which is raw and angry. He is the reader of the audio version, so you feel the emotions from his voice The situation is heart-breaking to hear him go on “ I miss his little toes” etc. And this is after all the time at the hospital, the chemo & feeding tube care etc. In his suffering state, Mr. Delany comes across as someone who is liable to explode easily, and I wouldn’t want him on my bad side (hence the 5 stars. Kidding.) The book is a somber reminder that unbeknownst to us, people around us may be experiencing terrible loss in their personal lives, so we may want to cut them a break. It is also a reminder of the value of having people to care about you. His son – though dying of a brain tumor - was obviously very loved, and he was happy. In contrast to “healthy” children who are sad from being unloved and neglected. ( )

Brutal and beautiful. ( )

An incredible book that felt almost necessary to read. Rob Delaney and his family went through this unbelievably awful thing - who am I to not read what he has to say about it? This makes it sound like a chore, but it absolutely was not. It was so painful that at times I had to look away from the pages, but also absolutely hilarious in places. If you are familiar with Delaney at all you know he has an off-the-wall sense of humor and it somehow felt perfectly natural in this book about his toddler son going through cancer treatment and dying. What a beautiful testament to the encompassing love we feel for our children, the way we'd jump in front of a train for them, the unfathomable idea that we may be powerless to help them. I'll never forget this and I'm grateful that he wrote it. ( )

Note: I received access to read this book from the publisher in exchange for posting an honest review.

This book is endlessly quotable, but I will do you the favor of letting you see everything within it's context in the book. I love his gallows humor throughout, it's consistently surprising and communicates the extreme places of emotion that one can find themselves in after loss. Beautiful and justifiably vulgar. You should read it. ( )