In September 2000, Brendan Halpin discovered that his thirty-two-year-old wife had stage four breast cancer. On October 7, he sat down to begin wri...
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Mar 08, 2009
george
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This is not the book I should have been reading at this exact point in time. I can be a total hypochondriac--but only about the big stuff. A few signs of a cold, eh. Doesn't faze me. But big, big stuff? I'm convinced that something major is going to happen. Take for instance breast cancer--I know I'm going to get it. Know it for a fact. Why, you might ask? No idea, but I know it's coming--it's just a matter of when. Then we can take the time when I was absolutely convinced that I was both pregna
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Feb 07, 2009
Breezy
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Like a long conversation with my best friend, dissecting the process of sickness of a loved one, of grief, the psychology of a survivor. Also, confusingly, the only Brendan Halpin book that I have not cried over. I'm glad that I waited until now to read it, and am sending it to my sister to read as well.
Oct 17, 2011
Lori
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Speaking of his preschooler having a tantrum she will say, "I hate everything! I want to smash the whole world!" And Halpin, "This is kind of how I feel all the time now. I guess I should be praying or meditating or something,in fact I think that's what I need to do to try to figure out how to live, but it just sounds so f..ing boring."
A memoir of a high school teacher, who's wife is going through cancer treatment. The subject is heavy but Brendan Halpin writes vividly More...
A memoir of a high school teacher, who's wife is going through cancer treatment. The subject is heavy but Brendan Halpin writes vividly More...
Aug 07, 2010
Ann
rated it:
I love Halpin's writing style...so easy to read and connect with. Even though the topic is dealing with his wife's cancer, I really loved this book and plan to read more of his work!
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Feb 14, 2009
Audrey
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What I liked best about this was that it has everything that I've come to expect from reading Brendan's blog and some of his other books. He's smartassed, he's sad, he's a 14 year old in a 32-year-old's body...and most of all, he's real. He doesn't set out to write this platitude-filled account of the life-changing truths he learned as he watched his wife and best friend battle stage IV cancer. Rather, he lets us in on all the day-to-day stuff that goes on and lets us see him at his worst during
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Feb 22, 2009
Cara
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Read this book more than once, then passed it along to a friend. Heartbreaking and funny at the same time. It is out of print now (I think) but worth tracking down.
Oct 15, 2008
Jules
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Having just finished "It Takes a Worried Man", I have to give Halpin props for one of the best last lines ever. Maybe BEST isn't the correct word. Maybe RIGHTEST is, except I'm pretty sure that RIGHTEST isn't a real word. In this case though, it should be.
Sep 18, 2007
reed
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This memoir sounds like a real downer - written by a late-20s guy whose wife is diagnosed with breast cancer. But it's as funny, uplifting, and affecting as Operating Instructions. I read it twice in one day.
Jan 06, 2008
Stephanie
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I love memoirs. This is a hard one to read, but the author is able to be so candid and his outright honesty is refreshing in the midst of his families tragedy.
Aug 16, 2007
Philip
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Personally, I did not like this book as much as "Losing My Faculties." That's not to say that this wasn't a good book, it was - it just didn't seem as developed.
Feb 16, 2011
Marie
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