Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook321 pages5 hours
Don't Be Afraid
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Hayward's darkly comic novel of adolescent anxiety reveals an unforgettable family caught in a state of mourning.
Meet Jim Morrison--not the lead singer of the Doors who died a rock 'n' roll death in 1971, but a chubby seventeen-year-old living in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, who was born days after the singer's death. Jim, or Jimmy, as most people call him, has been living a largely invisible life, overshadowed by his older brother, Mike, popular and charismatic, and his father, Fort, a stern and unyielding engineer. Jimmy spends his time avoiding gym, transforming his uneventful days into scenes from his favourite movies and occasionally going on banana diets (special banana carrier required).
But everything changes the night the library explodes, with pieces of books and catalogue cards falling like snow from the dark sky. Jimmy is first on the scene with his father and it's soon clear that Mike had been in the library when it exploded, possibly meeting a girlfriend after hours. Mike's death upends the Morrisons' suburban life and any sense of normalcy is destroyed. Their mother, Filomena, is nearly catatonic with shock, and Jimmy must become his much younger brother's nanny, taking him to preschool every day and uncomfortably hanging out with a gang of mothers, watching them breastfeed and talking about peanut allergies.
Life gets even more surreal. The cause of the library explosion remains mysterious, and Jimmy tries to help his father unofficially gather evidence at the site. Add to this his duties surrounding his mother's idea to have a birthday party for his dead brother, and Jimmy finds himself busier and, bizarrely, happier than he's ever been.
With generous humour and characteristic energy, Steven Hayward weaves a story of the undercurrents of family life and the unpredictable ways our paths can unfold.
Meet Jim Morrison--not the lead singer of the Doors who died a rock 'n' roll death in 1971, but a chubby seventeen-year-old living in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, who was born days after the singer's death. Jim, or Jimmy, as most people call him, has been living a largely invisible life, overshadowed by his older brother, Mike, popular and charismatic, and his father, Fort, a stern and unyielding engineer. Jimmy spends his time avoiding gym, transforming his uneventful days into scenes from his favourite movies and occasionally going on banana diets (special banana carrier required).
But everything changes the night the library explodes, with pieces of books and catalogue cards falling like snow from the dark sky. Jimmy is first on the scene with his father and it's soon clear that Mike had been in the library when it exploded, possibly meeting a girlfriend after hours. Mike's death upends the Morrisons' suburban life and any sense of normalcy is destroyed. Their mother, Filomena, is nearly catatonic with shock, and Jimmy must become his much younger brother's nanny, taking him to preschool every day and uncomfortably hanging out with a gang of mothers, watching them breastfeed and talking about peanut allergies.
Life gets even more surreal. The cause of the library explosion remains mysterious, and Jimmy tries to help his father unofficially gather evidence at the site. Add to this his duties surrounding his mother's idea to have a birthday party for his dead brother, and Jimmy finds himself busier and, bizarrely, happier than he's ever been.
With generous humour and characteristic energy, Steven Hayward weaves a story of the undercurrents of family life and the unpredictable ways our paths can unfold.
Unavailable
Related to Don't Be Afraid
Related ebooks
Sweet Sunday: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Baltimore Kid Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHere's Johnny!: My Memories of Johnny Carson, The Tonight Show, and 46 Years of Friendship Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Mistake: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Getting Down to Brass Tacks: My Adventures In The World Of Jazz, Rio, And Beyond Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGone Too Soon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIdol Truth: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Buried Memories: My Story: Updated Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rough Draft: A Memoir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDuty: A Father, His Son, and the Man Who Won the War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alive and Dead in Indiana Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFat, Drunk, and Stupid: The Inside Story Behind the Making of Animal House Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Guttenberg Bible: A Memoir Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Body Beneath the Bridge Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn the Road to Find Out Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe List Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLionel Atwill: An Exquisite Villain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHe Falls Well.: A Memoir of Survival Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Giant's Chair Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMemories, Dreams and Reflections Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Summer That Never Was Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLetter from Brooklyn Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Cop Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Barren Hills of Creighton Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mia Vita: Observations on Life, Religion, and Politics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsComing of Age in New Milford Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Little Trouble with the Facts: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5In the Light of You Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5ARE YOU KIDDING?: A Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Dark Humor For You
Catch-22: 50th Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sisters Brothers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Confederacy of Dunces Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Swamp Story: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone: A Murdery Mystery Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Five People You Meet in Hell: An Unauthorized Parody Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death with Interruptions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Post Office: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Family Fang: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Women: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Into the Woods Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Laws of the Skies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Candy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Florida Roadkill: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Dog's Heart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Trout Fishing in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hippopotamus: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Barbara Isn’t Dying: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Company: A Novel of the CIA Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Snobs: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Ginger Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5P.S. Your Cat Is Dead: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5After the Revolution: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dice Man: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eunuchs and Nymphomaniacs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Just by Looking at Him: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sorrow and Bliss: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mr. Flood's Last Resort: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Don't Be Afraid
Rating: 3.6875 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
8 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Don’t Be Afraid by Steven Hayward
315 pages
★★★
This is from the point of view of 17 year old Jimmy. His older brother is killed in a freak accident; he drops out of school to care for his little 4 year old brother when his mother loses all sanity. As if the loss of his brother isn’t enough, he forced to become an adult even quicker. It’s a story about loss, grieving, and how each family member deals with the loss.
A couple months ago I went to a book reading for an author, but also there was this author, Steven Hayward. I have never heard of him. He’s mostly been published in Canada (his home country) but currently resides and is a professor in my city. When he read from his book, it piqued my interest just enough to check out from the library.
Looking at other people’s reviews it seems to be one of those love it or hate it kind of books. But watch me be a rebel and give a neutral rating of 3 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed the premise of the book. I enjoyed the resilience and the dark humor found in the book. I couldn’t stop reading it because I just wanted to know where it was going. I could relate to the amount of grief. However, even with all those great things, I had trouble connecting to the characters and it sort of wrecked my experience. I didn’t too much care what happened to them. The only character that I liked much at all was the father. It had potential but it just felt like something was missing that left me feeling letdown. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Loved this one. Funny and charming and outrageously plausible.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I have to be honest, was looking forward to and dreading to read this one. I went to High School with Steven and he was super intelligent, so I was worried that his writing would be over my head or worse depressing and dull. I didn't know him to well even though we hung in the same group for a while. But let me tell you if I knew he could write like this I would have had a crush on him instead of Michael (now known as Tobias) Tinker.The Good Stuff * As the description states so beautifully and bang on - This IS a "darkly comic novel" that deals with family members separately lost in their own grief * Extremely darkly funny, my type of novel * Steven really understands how grief affects us all so differently and when something tragic happens how it affects the family as a unit * Loved that he gives the History and Geography Teacher the names of our respective teachers at Richmond Hill High School (BTW, they were both OUTSTANDING teachers) * Description of the library brings back memories of my old public library - man I miss card catalogs * The discussion about the James James poem is hilarious - sort of reminds me of some of the conversations around our dinner table * Mentions the town of South Porcupine in Northern Ontario where we drove through every year when visiting my mom's family * Loved the scenes with the mommies from the daycare because they are so very true to life. Trust me I'm a Mom * Wonderful witty writing and just real and honest -- my review cannot not due this book justice, just go buy the damn think okThe Not so Good Stuff * The character of Vivian isn't very strongly developed in my opinion, I wanted to hear more of her voice * A Library is blown up -- hmm a little sensitive about that since - well - I'm a Librarian and work in a library : )Favorite Quotes/Passages"I call Mike my dead brother because he is, and so there won't be any weirdness later. Otherwise there'd be this awkward moment when you'd have to nod and say how sorry you are, just like you'd done if you'd been at the funeral home and had to stand there with me in front of Mike's casket. I'd thank you for being sorry, and maybe you'd say it again, say how really sorry you were, but eventually you'd walk away, leaving me there while you took off somewhere else, anywhere else, relieved it's not you in the middle of this, that it's my dead brother in that coffin, not yours.""It didn't even look like she could hear us but I guess she might have caught on to the fact that what was happening was the mothering equivalent of having her driver's license revoked.""I've come to think of the mothers of the other children as the Mothers, like they're a street gang with a ringleader, a bunch of henchmen and also a couple of loser sidekick characters who you know are going to end up being killed early in the movie because of a botched robbery.""It's libraries, she maintained, that show us what heaven will be like. Look at these books, she'd say, how can there be so many books and no eternity in which to read them.""I don't want a gun. In the country I'm from"-this was one of my father's favorite things to do, to refer to Canada as if it were a distant other world in the far reaches of the galaxy - "we don't have guns."What I Learned * Damn, who knew the boy I mostly remember for singing Rock and Roll, Hoochie Coo in those tight spandex pants(sorry Steve when I think of you that is the outfit I remember the most) could write something so outstanding * Some facts about Jim Morrison that I never knewWho should/shouldn't read * For those who enjoy dark comedies * Anyone who grew up in the 80's (especially Richmond Hill in the 80's) will enjoy * Fans of Mordecai Richler will appreciate Hayward's writing * Honestly I think pretty much anyone could find something to enjoy in this one4.5 Dewey'sI received this book from Random House in exchange for an honest review