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Hero of This Book
Hero of This Book | Elizabeth McCracken
14 posts | 11 read | 14 to read
A Most Anticipated Book of Fall from: Atlanta Journal-Constitution * Austin-American Statesman * BookPage * Book Riot * Boston Globe * Entertainment Weekly * LitHub* Los Angeles Times * The Millions * Oprah Daily * Philadelphia Inquirer * Publishers Weekly * St. Louis Post Dispatch * Town & Country * USA TodayA New Yorker Best Book of 2022A taut, groundbreaking new novel from bestselling and award-winning author Elizabeth McCracken, about a writer's relationship with her larger-than-life mother--and about the very nature of writing, memory, and artTen months after her mother's death, the narrator of The Hero of This Book takes a trip to London. The city was a favorite of her mother's, and as the narrator wanders the streets, she finds herself reflecting on her mother's life and their relationship. Thoughts of the past meld with questions of the future: Back in New England, the family home is now up for sale, its considerable contents already winnowed.The woman, a writer, recalls all that made her complicated mother extraordinary--her brilliant wit, her generosity, her unbelievable obstinacy, her sheer will in seizing life despite physical difficulties--and finds herself wondering how her mother had endured. Even though she wants to respect her mother's nearly pathological sense of privacy, the woman must come to terms with whether making a chronicle of this remarkable life constitutes an act of love or betrayal.The Hero of This Book is a searing examination of grief and renewal, and of a deeply felt relationship between a child and her parents. What begins as a question of filial devotion ultimately becomes a lesson in what it means to write. At once comic and heartbreaking, with prose that delights at every turn, this is a novel of such piercing love and tenderness that we are reminded that art is what remains when all else falls away.
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review
Megabooks
The Hero of This Book: A Novel | Elizabeth McCracken
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Pickpick

This oddly charming autofictional novel spoke to as the daughter of a disabled woman. McCracken claims not to have written a memoir, but many say it‘s darn close.

The narrator‘s mother died recently, so she has taken a brief trip to London and reflects on parts of their relationship as she walks the city. Like my mother, hers was a force despite her disability. She reflects on her illnesses, life before children, and her father‘s hoarding.

Megabooks We‘ve got daffs for days right now, but some of them were looking a bit weathered when I just took molly out after dinner. Big storms today!! @dabbe 13mo
dabbe Hang in there, daffies! You know how to float and dance in the breeze! ❣️ 13mo
Cinfhen They‘re looking good in the photo 🤩I didn‘t love this book but I think it‘s cool that she‘s bff with Ann Patchett 13mo
See All 7 Comments
Megabooks @dabbe they‘re looking a little down this morning but not too bad. It has been SO WINDY here! 13mo
Megabooks @Cinfhen yes, I picked up this signed edition when I saw Maggie O there! I enjoyed it, but it won‘t make my top 23 this year. 13mo
BkClubCare I like this author, is this quirky? 13mo
Megabooks @BkClubCare kinda, but not as quirky as her short stories. It‘s a bit tongue-in-cheek with the whole is she the MC her or not. (edited) 13mo
85 likes4 stack adds7 comments
review
Suelizbeth
The Hero of This Book: A Novel | Elizabeth McCracken
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Pickpick

First off, is this a novel or a memoir? The answer is, yes. An author whose parents would not want a memoir written about them, so insert fictional character(s), and problem solved. I love the way Elizabeth McCracken writes. She is irreverent, hilarious, detailed, descriptive, warm, aloof, and the last lines undid me. This is a must read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Suet624 Great review. I liked this one too. 13mo
Suelizbeth @Suet624 thanks 📚❤️ 13mo
52 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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Suet624
The Hero of This Book: A Novel | Elizabeth McCracken
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Pickpick

The author spends time discussing whether this is a novel or a memoir. The book is about her mother who had recently passed away. Her mother is so proud and so strong, despite so many physical challenges, and this book is a lovely & compassionate homage to her. Her parents are well known in their community & I think the author was concerned that in sharing some details it would embarrass her mother. Thus the need for the novel/memoir concept.

BkClubCare I enjoy this author‘s work. Might move it up the tbr. 12mo
57 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Suet624
The Hero of This Book: A Novel | Elizabeth McCracken
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Between hockey periods I‘m checking in on this short book in which the author offers stories of her parents, particularly her mother, both of whom have passed away. I grabbed the book because I thought I had enjoyed a previous book of McCracken‘s but now that I look at her titles none of them sound remotely familiar. Yet I would have bet a bundle that I had enjoyed her writing in the past. I‘m confused. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Megabooks Maybe you‘ve read some of her short stories in other publications?? 14mo
Suet624 @Megabooks I was wondering about that too. Maybe The New Yorker. 14mo
55 likes2 comments
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jdiehr
The Hero of This Book: A Novel | Elizabeth McCracken
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Pickpick

This short book is about a middle-aged woman grieving the loss of her mother.

Had I read it in print, I would have highlighted many quotes. As I was listening last night, I paused the audio and jotted this down:

"All this history going on without my mother in it."

How many times I have stopped in my own life and had that very thought!

I thought this was a lovely, straightforward tribute to a woman who would have been uncomfortable with it.

dabbe Wow. That quote stopped me in my scroll-tracks. I've thought that many times but was never able to voice it until now. Thanks. ❣️ 1y
jdiehr @dabbe Right?? That was one of several 1y
Suet624 I think that often of both of my parents. I was happy though that they never had to live through the Trump years. 14mo
24 likes3 comments
review
Kazzie
The Hero of This Book: A Novel | Elizabeth McCracken
Pickpick

Really liked. Excellent memoir/novel. Such an honest and loving description of the writer‘s relationship with her mother - who sounds pretty fantastic

blurb
Kangaj1
The Hero of This Book: A Novel | Elizabeth McCracken
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B&N 50% hardcover sale

EvieBee Nice haul! How long is the sale? 1y
Kangaj1 @EvieBee Thanks! Through tomorrow. 1y
Megabooks Lots of great choices! 1y
28 likes3 comments
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Sapphire
The Hero of This Book: A Novel | Elizabeth McCracken
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Panpan

The memoir that isn‘t was disappointing. As much as I love this author I took on faith she could pull it off. But this just reads like a journal for a grief seminar.

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Sapphire
The Hero of This Book: A Novel | Elizabeth McCracken
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August 2019: the summer before the world stopped.

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kspenmoll
Hero of This Book | Elizabeth McCracken
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Bailedbailed

Initially I enjoyed the portrait of her mother & her mother‘s attitude towards life, despite gradually losing her stamina & ability to walk unaided. Some of the author‘s descriptions during her walks around London caught my interest as I have no experience of that city but its airport! But I lost interest quickly, bailed, & returned it to the library.

review
Cinfhen
The Hero of This Book: A Novel | Elizabeth McCracken
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Mehso-so

So Elizabeth McCracken insists this book is fiction but…
this memoir, not a memoir, but really IS a memoir, left me unmoved. The writing was really good and the right elements were all there yet, the story of a daughter mourning the passing of her mother didn‘t leave any kind of impression. Meh ? Note to EM: "If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck."? ? #JustSayin

TrishB 😂😂 1y
Cinfhen I‘m perplexed @TrishB 🥹😁😘 1y
BarbaraBB 🤣🤣 Great review! I won‘t read the book! 1y
See All 7 Comments
Cinfhen It‘s definitely a #BorrowNotBuy in my opinion @BarbaraBB but I bet it‘s gonna be on the #ToB23LongList 🙃 1y
BarbaraBB Really? Oh well, as long as it won‘t be on the shortlist 🙃 1y
Megabooks I‘m curious what I‘ll think. Your review has my curiosity piqued! I picked this up at Parnassus. 1y
Cinfhen I‘m really curious to hear your thoughts when u get to it @Megabooks 1y
68 likes1 stack add7 comments
blurb
kspenmoll
The Hero of This Book: A Novel | Elizabeth McCracken
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kspenmoll @Cinfhen I am devouring this book! 1y
Cinfhen Ohhhhh, yay!!! Good to know 😁👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 1y
50 likes1 stack add3 comments
blurb
TheBookStacker
The Hero of This Book: A Novel | Elizabeth McCracken
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Starting this today and probably finishing it. It feels like a one day type read.

29 likes1 stack add
review
JHSiess
The Hero of This Book: A Novel | Elizabeth McCracken
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Pickpick

𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐜𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐧's 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 is a hilarious, heartbreaking, & richly relatable homage from a bereaved daughter to her deceased mother. With vivid prose, the parents come back to life as the narrator details lives well-lived, with flaws & foibles, showing her mother is the hero of her book ... & life. Thanks to Ecco Books & Bibliolifestyle for a copy. Available now.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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