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Bobby Wonderful
His mother's last word was his name. His father's was "Wonderful." Together they inspired the title for this true story of love and redemption.
Bob Morris was always the entertainer in his family, but not always a perfect son. When he finds his parents approaching the end of their lives, he begins to see his relationship to them in a whole new light and it changes his way of thinking.
How does an adult child with flaws and limitations figure out how to do his best for his ailing parents while still carrying on and enjoying his own life? And when their final days on earth come, how can he give them the best possible end?
In the tradition of bestselling memoirs by Christopher Buckley, Joan Didion, and with a dash of David Sedaris, BOBBY WONDERFUL recounts two poignant deaths and one family's struggle to find the silver lining in them. As accessible as he is insightful, Bob Morris infuses each moment of his profound emotional journey with dark comedy, spiritual inquiry and brutally honest self-examination.
This is a little book. But it captures a big and universal experience.
Bob Morris was always the entertainer in his family, but not always a perfect son. When he finds his parents approaching the end of their lives, he begins to see his relationship to them in a whole new light and it changes his way of thinking.
How does an adult child with flaws and limitations figure out how to do his best for his ailing parents while still carrying on and enjoying his own life? And when their final days on earth come, how can he give them the best possible end?
In the tradition of bestselling memoirs by Christopher Buckley, Joan Didion, and with a dash of David Sedaris, BOBBY WONDERFUL recounts two poignant deaths and one family's struggle to find the silver lining in them. As accessible as he is insightful, Bob Morris infuses each moment of his profound emotional journey with dark comedy, spiritual inquiry and brutally honest self-examination.
This is a little book. But it captures a big and universal experience.
207 pages, Paperback
First published May 5, 2015
10 people are currently reading
503 people want to read
About the author
Bob Morris
74 books51 followersRobert Morris is an American novelist who writes Caribbean themed mysteries. He is previously known as a columnist for several newspapers and magazines.
Series:
* Zack Chasteen
Series:
* Zack Chasteen
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
June 16, 2017
“We sit for a moment together, feeling the shifting of the world, the geometry of our family tilting from four to three. It’s enormous what happens in the instant of death. The Buddhists have a word for the transitional state when the spirit has left the body but hasn’t settled into a new one yet. It’s called Bardo, a critical moment that determines where a soul will be reincarnated. I wonder, though, if it isn’t a critical moment not only for the dying but for the living too. Who are we about to become in the wake of the death of someone so important?”
BOBBY WONDERFUL is a wonderfully poignant book, if occasionally more than a little sad. It is filled with heartwarming stories of both his mother, and then later of his father in his years after the death of his wife, Bob Morris’s mother.
At some point in everyone’s life, they lose someone they love. No one is ever truly prepared, no matter how much we think we are, to say those final goodbyes. You can see, feel the struggle of that time for both the author and his brother, and even between the brothers, over the right things to do for each parents. The things most families go through when that time, however welcome or unwelcome it may be, appears as the author relates his struggles to come to terms with each parent's decline, with his struggles with his brother as they make choices for them in their last moments.
BOBBY WONDERFUL is a wonderfully poignant book, if occasionally more than a little sad. It is filled with heartwarming stories of both his mother, and then later of his father in his years after the death of his wife, Bob Morris’s mother.
At some point in everyone’s life, they lose someone they love. No one is ever truly prepared, no matter how much we think we are, to say those final goodbyes. You can see, feel the struggle of that time for both the author and his brother, and even between the brothers, over the right things to do for each parents. The things most families go through when that time, however welcome or unwelcome it may be, appears as the author relates his struggles to come to terms with each parent's decline, with his struggles with his brother as they make choices for them in their last moments.
February 22, 2016
Grab the tissues.
I am in the phase of life where I will likely bury my own father far sooner than I'd like. I wish I could say I was as close to my father as Bobby was to his. Regardless, this was a wonderful memoir.
I felt the pain over losing his mother, yet as my own father had an aortic aneurysm rupture & was saved quite miraculously through emergency surgery, the story of Bob's father's decline is what shook me to my core. In witnessing Mr. Morris' health falter as seen through the eyes of his son, I felt as if I was simultaneously watching it with him, while also living a parallel life & experience.
The honesty & conflict within the pages are so raw & honest. I cannot say enough as to just how welcome that is. While my father & I lack a strong bond for numerous reasons, there's no doubt I love him deeply. To hear someone speak openly about the contradictory emotions, expectations, frustrations & all that goes in to watching the people we once though immortal, as they leave this world was both heartbreaking & cathartic.
For those of us who've yet to have a parent pass, but come as close as you get, not only is there wit within Bob's book, there's also heart, honesty & much to think about.
A highly recommend read... though if you're anything like me, have the tissues (and your favourite (security?) blanket) ready. ...Mine is definitely headed for the laundry today—trust when I say, it needs it.
I am in the phase of life where I will likely bury my own father far sooner than I'd like. I wish I could say I was as close to my father as Bobby was to his. Regardless, this was a wonderful memoir.
I felt the pain over losing his mother, yet as my own father had an aortic aneurysm rupture & was saved quite miraculously through emergency surgery, the story of Bob's father's decline is what shook me to my core. In witnessing Mr. Morris' health falter as seen through the eyes of his son, I felt as if I was simultaneously watching it with him, while also living a parallel life & experience.
The honesty & conflict within the pages are so raw & honest. I cannot say enough as to just how welcome that is. While my father & I lack a strong bond for numerous reasons, there's no doubt I love him deeply. To hear someone speak openly about the contradictory emotions, expectations, frustrations & all that goes in to watching the people we once though immortal, as they leave this world was both heartbreaking & cathartic.
For those of us who've yet to have a parent pass, but come as close as you get, not only is there wit within Bob's book, there's also heart, honesty & much to think about.
A highly recommend read... though if you're anything like me, have the tissues (and your favourite (security?) blanket) ready. ...Mine is definitely headed for the laundry today—trust when I say, it needs it.
July 23, 2015
The subject matter of the book suggests that reading it will be an emotionally grueling journey for the reader however this was not the case for me. Morris chooses to take this emotionally charged topic and treat it with a candor that sometimes borders on flippant (sometimes teetering quite perilously) that takes the death of his parents from the potential depths of a histrionic sob fest to something still exquisitely painful yet entirely tolerable. It is sweetly funny in places that feel appropriate and his treatment of the sibling relationship is interesting.
His story is entirely unique to him but there are universal themes. I never fully related to him or his experience but I benefited from listening to him relate his story. I don't think he and reached similar conclusions about the conflicts of interest and need among the living and the dying when a parent is nearing the end of life, but acknowledging the conflicts and thinking about them gives you a lot to chew on long after the book has ended.
His story is entirely unique to him but there are universal themes. I never fully related to him or his experience but I benefited from listening to him relate his story. I don't think he and reached similar conclusions about the conflicts of interest and need among the living and the dying when a parent is nearing the end of life, but acknowledging the conflicts and thinking about them gives you a lot to chew on long after the book has ended.
August 17, 2020
This book brought up a lot of the feelings I have experienced over the last year in caring for elderly parents and dealing with the death of my father. I am now helping to care for my almost 98 year old mother. The author tells of his internal conflicts and very well could have been telling my story. It helped me to get in touch with feelings that I I have suppressed, and understand that those feelings are quite normal for me and many others. It is a quick read, but oh so worth the story that he tells. Well done.
June 22, 2015
It's the book I told him not to write. He persevered and wrote a gorgeous, poignant memoir about saying goodbye to his parents. I have no choice but to give the old man five stars. He deserves them. The comments we've heard from readers have been touching. This book will make a difference in people's lives. Read it. Comment on it. Become part of this community of support.
Stunning excerpt here: https://time.com/3929030/bob-morris-b...
and here as well: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/...
Stunning excerpt here: https://time.com/3929030/bob-morris-b...
and here as well: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/...
June 28, 2015
Wonderful book. I cried an ugly cry the first and last 40 pages. It makes you think about your parents, loved ones and how you want to live and treat them.
November 12, 2015
Complete review available at my blog, HereWeAreGoing, here: https://herewearegoing.wordpress.com/...
Not sure if it’s a sign of the ruling cultural demographic of aging Boomers and GenX-ers or my own myopic obsession, but Bobby Wonderful is the third book I have read since March in a genre dedicated to ruminations on the care and maintenance of aging parents.
The first was Bettyville by George Hodgman, which I very much loved. [Click here to read about it.] And the second, more recently read in preparation for an operation the doctors had indicated could very well be the end of my mother, was Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal, which I found to be revelatory and inspiring and terrifying. [Click here to read about it.]
While Bettyville and Being Mortal were very different, they had in common an inspirational reaching; while both authors reflected on their own journey during their parent’s illness, the primary thrust and concern was focused on finding peace with the wishes of those being cared for, a way of transitioning roles that granted everyone agency, dignity, acknowledgment, and a final understanding and acceptance. There was a great deal of becoming a new “we” in both.
In Bobby Wonderful, there is much less of that. It is more an “I” story in which he admits he was not, perhaps, the ideal caretaker. I never felt as if I knew Bobby, his partner, his brother, his parents, his cousin, in the way I came to know the people in Bettyville and Being Mortal, both of which resonated for me, touched on my own experiences. Bobby Wonderful did not give me that feeling of connection. His experience had none of the echoes or colors, did not move me as did those others — there seemed a distance between the experience and the author, a chasm he wasn’t willing to explore or cross.
I am sure the experience was profound and life-altering for him, but in this book, it feels as if he didn’t really want to go to those places, rather, he just skimmed them, described their shape, but left out the soul.
And while I am sure he is a wonderful man, and was much loved and loved in return, we didn’t really get to see that here. So, I would have to give this one a pass.
Not sure if it’s a sign of the ruling cultural demographic of aging Boomers and GenX-ers or my own myopic obsession, but Bobby Wonderful is the third book I have read since March in a genre dedicated to ruminations on the care and maintenance of aging parents.
The first was Bettyville by George Hodgman, which I very much loved. [Click here to read about it.] And the second, more recently read in preparation for an operation the doctors had indicated could very well be the end of my mother, was Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal, which I found to be revelatory and inspiring and terrifying. [Click here to read about it.]
While Bettyville and Being Mortal were very different, they had in common an inspirational reaching; while both authors reflected on their own journey during their parent’s illness, the primary thrust and concern was focused on finding peace with the wishes of those being cared for, a way of transitioning roles that granted everyone agency, dignity, acknowledgment, and a final understanding and acceptance. There was a great deal of becoming a new “we” in both.
In Bobby Wonderful, there is much less of that. It is more an “I” story in which he admits he was not, perhaps, the ideal caretaker. I never felt as if I knew Bobby, his partner, his brother, his parents, his cousin, in the way I came to know the people in Bettyville and Being Mortal, both of which resonated for me, touched on my own experiences. Bobby Wonderful did not give me that feeling of connection. His experience had none of the echoes or colors, did not move me as did those others — there seemed a distance between the experience and the author, a chasm he wasn’t willing to explore or cross.
I am sure the experience was profound and life-altering for him, but in this book, it feels as if he didn’t really want to go to those places, rather, he just skimmed them, described their shape, but left out the soul.
And while I am sure he is a wonderful man, and was much loved and loved in return, we didn’t really get to see that here. So, I would have to give this one a pass.
July 1, 2016
Morris appeared with George Hodgman on C-SPAN’s Book-TV to give a reading about how they helped to care for an ailing parent. http://www.c-span.org/search/?searcht... I don’t think it is as good as Hodgman’s book, Bettyville. It is fine in its own right, but it hasn’t the flair, the utter wit that Hodgman’s book has. Early on Morris turns to factual information:
I had the same experience over ten years ago when my father came to town to live near me. Overseeing the last four years of his life may have been the biggest challenge of my life—including twenty-seven years as a public school teacher. When I finally did accept the experience as an opportunity and not a burden I was able to understand things about my father that had always puzzled or angered me, but it wasn’t easy. And I believe this fact may be what leaves me cold about Morris’s book. He brings little new to the table, either by way of experience or how he reports it. He, too, like Hodgman (like me) is gay, caring for an elderly parent with whom you have unresolved issues, but somehow he writes about it as if it, too, is just another assignment from his editor.
“Caring for parents has become the new normal for boomers. It is estimated that 65 million people in this country are caregivers, with seven out of ten of them looking after someone over the age of fifty. Many of these caregivers report depression and some a decline in health. Most aren’t the perfect and selfless children who want to move their parents in with them and have their ashes scattered at a ballet. And they don’t have the vision to see what only the selfless and enlightened can know when in the middle of it, and what I only know now that the experience is behind me, making it easy to say: Caring for your parents is an opportunity” (6).
I had the same experience over ten years ago when my father came to town to live near me. Overseeing the last four years of his life may have been the biggest challenge of my life—including twenty-seven years as a public school teacher. When I finally did accept the experience as an opportunity and not a burden I was able to understand things about my father that had always puzzled or angered me, but it wasn’t easy. And I believe this fact may be what leaves me cold about Morris’s book. He brings little new to the table, either by way of experience or how he reports it. He, too, like Hodgman (like me) is gay, caring for an elderly parent with whom you have unresolved issues, but somehow he writes about it as if it, too, is just another assignment from his editor.
October 4, 2020
Bobby Wonderful is a remarkable book and Bob Morris is a remarkable writer. It really transformed on a deep level how I am experiencing my mother's dementia and ill health, my grief over my father's death, and even my grief over my boyfriend passing from cancer (yes the past few years have been a journey). I would recommend this book to anyone dealing with similar circumstances, but,honestly, I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever loved, and also to anyone who loves great writing. It is a beautifully written book without being precious in its beauty. The specificity and clarity brings the son, Bob Morris, and his parents, and family members vividly to life yet something about the very specificity of the writing, something about the humanity of the specific people we meet in this book, takes us beyond meeting and experiencing the journey of these people we meet; we wind up knowing ourselves and our loved ones better. This book is honest on a deep level, written with wit and humor that takes nothing away from the sincerity. Honestly, this may sound silly, but in the midst of challenging situations now I imagine how it would be handled if it was in a chapter Bob Morris had written, and then I see these challenges as part of a journey. It also helps me see the love, the humor, and the hope in these challenging circumstances. But to be clear, this is a very, very enjoyable book to read. You will not just grow from reading it; you will enjoy it. Really.
August 13, 2015
Bobby Wonderful is a terrific book, It brings life's most important relationships, our parents and how we let go of them.. there are multiple silver linings and up shots through out the book, particularly bob morris's humor. i highly recommend it as its helpful and locates the positive as it strikes primal chords.
really great
really great
July 28, 2015
I just finished this touching memoir to his parents. Short but gut wrenching. Thank you for writing this book--I can't tell you how much it meant to me-half the book is starred in the margins with passages I'm going to re read.
August 13, 2015
Loved this book. Really was the perfect piece to read after losing my father this year.
September 11, 2021
Bobby Wonderful by Bob Morris is not a book that will uplift your spirits. It's the story of 2 sons that are facing the end of the lives of their parents. One son is over-vigilant and the other son tries to stay as far away as he can and, sadly, for selfish reasons. As a solo caretaker for both of my parents, it was really difficult to read because of all the similarities it brought forward. I'm telling you this because I hope anyone that reads this book and still have their parent(s) will give thought as to how they want to face their final days with their parent(s). For both parents, I was the one that was there every day while my sibling decided it was better to be shopping or as far away as possible. The last day my dad was able to speak, his final words to me were, “I love you, Jan” and my sibling was out of town shopping. Mom's final words to me were, “I couldn't have asked for a better daughter.” My sibling was nowhere in sight the whole 4 months Mom was terminal. The best part, although the hardest, was the very end. They watched me take my first breath and I watched them take their last. They were there for me my whole life when I was sick so, of course, I wanted to be there for them. They never once turned their backs on me. I wouldn't change one minute of it and I'm so glad I read this book. It just made me feel even better about how I handled the end. No regrets!
December 27, 2016
Lovely. Hard, and true. There were several points that found me really not liking the author, (he can be such a jerk! So self - involved!) and then next applauding him (he is all of us, of course) for his honest and human failings. The end of life, and the progression of our own, (as we hope like hell we're in the middle of, but only with luck is that true) is filled with choices, and we can all be jerks. Bobby the son is cranky and resentful and flawed-- and he's a man who loves his family deeply, shows up and gives and appreciates, sings and hopes, is fiercely protective, opens and shuts and cracks his heart again and again. I am grateful for the memoir-- I am grateful to have "met" a guy willing to share his mom and dad and cousin Julie, his own mid-life struggles with love and career and creative endeavors. He reveres his brother, and his own husband as men with excellent qualities. I am left wanting more of this type of book, because I see that how we all deal with these changes and losses as real people is as valuable as how I want to deal with it, as the perfect, evolved, no-regrets being I yearn to be. But my losses will definitely be happening before I get to that point (which would take me several lifetimes! and I'm not even a believer!) so this peek helped my heart get bigger, too.
November 14, 2018
This was a mixed bag. I appreciated that the author didn't sugarcoat the anxiousness, resentment and frustration that come with dealing with senior parents. However, even though the title refers to him as an imperfect son, the author portrays himself as surprisingly shallow and self-centered. He completely lost me when the most important thing on his mind during a hospital visit seemed to be browbeating his dad into acknowledging his vote in the presidential election was wrong. This is what's on your mind after thinking your dad might be dying? Seriously?
Other than that, my major concern with the book is how "comfort care" (palliative care) is portrayed. The author seems to think that this is a euphemism for a form of euthanasia -- that morphine is given at the end to whisk people away more quickly. There is no evidence that morphine does that, and it is only given at the end to make people more comfortable (hence the term comfort care). It's a not a way to show them the door. It's showing compassion to someone who is anxious or in pain. Quite frankly, I find it a bit distressing that the author's mom was in obvious distress for a week in the hospital before someone thought to give her pain relief.
Overall, I appreciated the author's honesty and realism, but I didn't close this book feeling particularly good about it.
Other than that, my major concern with the book is how "comfort care" (palliative care) is portrayed. The author seems to think that this is a euphemism for a form of euthanasia -- that morphine is given at the end to whisk people away more quickly. There is no evidence that morphine does that, and it is only given at the end to make people more comfortable (hence the term comfort care). It's a not a way to show them the door. It's showing compassion to someone who is anxious or in pain. Quite frankly, I find it a bit distressing that the author's mom was in obvious distress for a week in the hospital before someone thought to give her pain relief.
Overall, I appreciated the author's honesty and realism, but I didn't close this book feeling particularly good about it.
March 13, 2023
Death, written in a light hearted tone, and approached with an honesty that many would find hard to express. I particularly liked the passage from the rabi:
“I want you to imagine your whole life now if you can. […] For each time you did something good, I mean something that helped someone, regardless of how small, imagine it as a little glow, a little spot of illumination that lights a long dark roadway. So if you look back behind you at your whole life now, I imagine you see many, many lights glowing there, stretching back at the horizon.”
“I want you to imagine your whole life now if you can. […] For each time you did something good, I mean something that helped someone, regardless of how small, imagine it as a little glow, a little spot of illumination that lights a long dark roadway. So if you look back behind you at your whole life now, I imagine you see many, many lights glowing there, stretching back at the horizon.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 8, 2018
I loved reading this book and I'm happy to give it a solid 5 stars. It made me laugh and cry. It will take me a while to process and articulate my emotions and thoughts on the subject matter but the highlights I selected are solid samples. I haven't read any of his journalism work, but I found this author to be a good writer in this memoir as well as the one preceding it.
February 3, 2024
As Bobby’s parents age, he sees their relationship in a new light. First his mom and than his dad passes away and how he spends time with them in their last days.
“He did a good job caring for his parents even though he didn’t feel like he was.
Makes me think about my own parents and how I could care for them, living so far away, this was back in 2015. Now I know. “.
“He did a good job caring for his parents even though he didn’t feel like he was.
Makes me think about my own parents and how I could care for them, living so far away, this was back in 2015. Now I know. “.
March 28, 2025
This was a good story of grief and the reality of parental death. I love that it was raw and realistic. There was no sugar coating and making life look so peachy. It was honest about the frustrations.
March 4, 2016
It has taken me a while to pick up this book after receiving it, and it's because it broaches a subject I'm not too comfortable facing. I still have both my loving parents and in my ideal world, I will never lose them. The author's experiences and memories with his parents' final moments were touching yet hard to identify with at the same time.
Seemingly unlike the author, I hate being away from my family. We are very close. My parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins all lived in the same small city not far from one another. This year, for the first time, I am in a different state than my family celebrating Thanksgiving and it would be a difficult time for me if I didn't know I would be traveling back to be with them next week. I felt like for the author it was more an obligation to be with his parents. Again, my experiences vary greatly from his. My parents are pretty independent individuals and don't ask for much from me. There hasn't been but a couple great medical crises and both times, probably since we're all so close, there was an abundance of familial support.
It's a very personal topic and one I'm sure is difficult to share, so I hope in writing this memoir the author gains a sense of peace and knows he is helping others possibly experiencing the same thing. Whether it be making a decision you think is for someone else's best interest when she isn't capable of expressing her wants herself or assisting someone find peace when selfishness demands another course of action, it's a tough position.. facing death.
Death and dying are not subjects I like. I've said many times that it is my greatest fear. Having regretted that I haven't experienced everything there is to experience. Leaving behind the people I love. It's not anything I wish to happen to anyone. Reading this book and seeing how the author had to endure loved ones aging and/or becoming increasingly dependent on the able-bodied made me sympathize with his experiences. The author sometimes comes across overwhelmed and over-exerted, but I think it's a nice display of his personal remorse at how he reacted and treated his parents when they may have needed him more than they could possibly voice.
Please note: I received this book for free through a Goodreads Giveaway. Thank you to everyone who made that possible.
Seemingly unlike the author, I hate being away from my family. We are very close. My parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins all lived in the same small city not far from one another. This year, for the first time, I am in a different state than my family celebrating Thanksgiving and it would be a difficult time for me if I didn't know I would be traveling back to be with them next week. I felt like for the author it was more an obligation to be with his parents. Again, my experiences vary greatly from his. My parents are pretty independent individuals and don't ask for much from me. There hasn't been but a couple great medical crises and both times, probably since we're all so close, there was an abundance of familial support.
It's a very personal topic and one I'm sure is difficult to share, so I hope in writing this memoir the author gains a sense of peace and knows he is helping others possibly experiencing the same thing. Whether it be making a decision you think is for someone else's best interest when she isn't capable of expressing her wants herself or assisting someone find peace when selfishness demands another course of action, it's a tough position.. facing death.
Death and dying are not subjects I like. I've said many times that it is my greatest fear. Having regretted that I haven't experienced everything there is to experience. Leaving behind the people I love. It's not anything I wish to happen to anyone. Reading this book and seeing how the author had to endure loved ones aging and/or becoming increasingly dependent on the able-bodied made me sympathize with his experiences. The author sometimes comes across overwhelmed and over-exerted, but I think it's a nice display of his personal remorse at how he reacted and treated his parents when they may have needed him more than they could possibly voice.
Please note: I received this book for free through a Goodreads Giveaway. Thank you to everyone who made that possible.
January 16, 2016
Jacket notes say it is "in the tradition of bestselling memoirs by Christopher Buckley, Joan Didion, and with a dash of David Sedaris", but I'm not really feeling those comparisons. doesn't sound the least bit like Joan Didion other than maybe that they're both good writers.
anyway, theater/comedy guy from NYC discusses the deaths of his parents, which brings in his husband's calm and wisdom, his tensions with his brother about when to let go, his guilt over feeling annoyed by his Dad's demands, his being weirded out by his Dad's dating life after his Mom died [one subplot is author's staging a one-man show about his Dad's dating, which his Dad attended -- awkward potential!], his anxiety about overly emotive cousin's eulogy, and much more.
it's certainly funny in places -- his sense of triumph at getting his dying father to admit that he probably wouldn't have voted for W for President if he had it to do over again was one scene I remember laughing at -- but not overall a lighthearted book. I don't know the family of course, but it felt like an honest attempt to look at his own, not just everyone else's, behavior, generous and selfish, kind and testy, when life brings a universal but still devastating challenge.
anyway, theater/comedy guy from NYC discusses the deaths of his parents, which brings in his husband's calm and wisdom, his tensions with his brother about when to let go, his guilt over feeling annoyed by his Dad's demands, his being weirded out by his Dad's dating life after his Mom died [one subplot is author's staging a one-man show about his Dad's dating, which his Dad attended -- awkward potential!], his anxiety about overly emotive cousin's eulogy, and much more.
it's certainly funny in places -- his sense of triumph at getting his dying father to admit that he probably wouldn't have voted for W for President if he had it to do over again was one scene I remember laughing at -- but not overall a lighthearted book. I don't know the family of course, but it felt like an honest attempt to look at his own, not just everyone else's, behavior, generous and selfish, kind and testy, when life brings a universal but still devastating challenge.
December 13, 2015
I really enjoyed Bob Morris's earlier book, Assisted Loving, so I was eager to read the follow-up book, Bobby Wonderful: An Imperfect Son Buries His Parents. Morris does not spare himself; he reveals those moments of irritation, impatience, frustration, resentment, and anger that all caregivers experience, and the remorse, guilt and shame that inevitably follow. He compares himself with his brother, Jeff, and finds himself wanting. But there are also moments of love, and tenderness, and compassion to balance out those times when Morris acts in a way that he later wishes he had not. There was a lot for me to identify with in this book.
September 16, 2015
Stunning. Bob Morris lets the reader into every corner of his mind and thoughts. (Sometimes with heart wrenching poignancy but also with a terrific sense of humour!) Seldom, if ever, is an author willing to be so honest about his feelings; this memoir is a great comfort to anyone struggling with their emotions about family life. (Is there anyone who isn't?) "Too many books, too little time" applies to all of us, but this is one book that I want to read again.
July 10, 2015
This is a non-fiction memoir. Mr. Morris tells what he and his family went through as their mom and dad lived their final days. I am sure this book will resonate with the older crowd that went through this time in their life too. This is an emotional book that is well worth reading. (Gerard's review)
March 1, 2017
For anyone who has lost one or both parents, this book should resonant on many levels. Many of the stories were familiar to me although the personalities of my family members are so different from Bobby's. It just proves that people are people and some things are universal no matter your differences.
September 16, 2015
Mr. Wonderful does an extraordinary job capturing the conflicting, contradicting and confusing emotions which surface when saying farewell to one's parents.This memoir is a gift to those of us who realize that the blessing of healthy, loving ( though imperfect ) parents does not come with a lifetime guarantee.
September 26, 2015
This memoir was painful to read because it so accurately reflects my own experience with aging and dying parents. Such a mix of emotions and so much room for reflection. My father died nearly 20 years ago but my mother only last winter. It is still too close to read this book without being flooded with memories.
July 24, 2015
Bob Morris was very candid, revealing all his imperfections, warts and all, about his relationships with family. He should read "The Invisible History of the Human Race" and maybe give himself a break. I'm praying for a quick exit!
July 27, 2015
This is a big-hearted, tender, sad, smart book about family, loss, ambition, and love. I read it in one evening because I didn't want to stop reading it. Morris is a very engaging and sensitive writer.
October 25, 2015
The writing is lovely but the self hatred seems perfunctory and insincere. He is trying to shock the reader but I didn't feel shock. Or sadness. Or anything and honestly it seems as though the author didn't either.
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