I Will Do Better
A Father's Memoir of Heartbreak, Parenting, and Love
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The novelist Charles Bock was a reluctant parent, tagging along for the ride of fatherhood, obsessed primarily with his dream of a writing career. But when his daughter Lily was six months old, his wife, Diana, was diagnosed with a complex form of leukemia. Two and a half years later, when all treatments and therapies had been exhausted, Bock found himself a widower—devastated, drowning in medical bills, and saddled with a daunting responsibility. He had to nurture Lily and, somehow, maybe even heal himself.
I Will Do Better is his pull-no-punches account of what happened next. Playdates, music classes, temper tantrums, oh-so-cool babysitters, first days at school, family reunions, single-parent dating, and a crippling citywide natural disaster were minefields especially treacherous for Charles and Lily because of their preexisting vulnerability: their grief.
Charles sought help from friends, family, and therapists, but this overgrown middle-aged boy-man and this plucky child became, foremost, a duo—they found their way together.
By turns comical and heartbreaking, I Will Do Better does not shy from moments of sadness, anger, or awkwardness. It's the remarkable journey of two defiant and wounded people, and their personal growth in the name of love.
"A uniquely forthright and powerful addition to the literature of fatherhood."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
October 1, 2024 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9798892745741
- File size: 200517 KB
- Duration: 06:57:44
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Fiction writer Charles Bock turns to memoir as he tells the story of his adored wife's death and the task of raising their 3-year-old daughter, Lily, solo. Bock narrates with such rhythm that you almost visualize the text's line breaks. His delivery illuminates the beauty of his writing and the harsh reality of his struggles with grief, trying to maintain a career despite Lily's meltdowns, and pursuing new love interests--all the while missing the steadying force of his wife. Bock's emotional honesty in this candid narration is moderated with dry humor and irony. For example, he arranges for his wife's cremation and concurrently confirms specifications for his daughter's birthday cake. S.W. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine -
August 19, 2024
Novelist Bock (Alice & Oliver) offers an unvarnished account of raising his daughter, Lily, after his wife, Diana, died of leukemia. Days before Lily’s third birthday party, a very ill Diana died, confusing Lily and making Bock, then 42, panic about the future. Overcome by grief, with “no full-time job, no investments, no retirement account, barely a pot to piss in,” he considered sending Lily to live with Diana’s family in Tennessee but decided against it, choosing instead to tackle childcare, preschool, and Lily’s tempestuous emotions by himself. With dry humor, Bock recounts the pitfalls (“The male’s capacity to feel sorry for himself is bottomless”), including his failed attempts to ignite new romances and an accident in which he broke his elbow when Lily was a toddler. He’s bracingly honest about his flaws, sharing his therapist’s observation that he “spent a considerable amount of adult history avoiding responsibility,” but the self-incrimination is offset with tender recollections of his and Diana’s courtship and his palpable love for Lily, who, by 13, is “radioactive hell on wheels... in the best way.” Single parents will find much to identify with in this warts-and-all account. Agent: Barbara Jones, Stuart Krichevsky Literary.
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