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This is the story of what happens when you lose a child, and everything you discover about life in the process, by the star of the Amazon Prime series Catastrophe.
In 2018, Rob Delaney's two-year-old son, Henry, died of a brain tumor. A Heart That Works is Delaney's intimate, unflinching, and at times fiercely funny exploration of Henry's beautiful, bright life and the devastation of his loss—from the harrowing illness to the vivid, bodily impact of grief and the blind, furious rage that followed through to the forceful, unstoppable love that remains. In the madness of his grief, Delaney grapples with the fragile miracle of life, the mysteries of death, and the question of purpose for those left behind.
Profound, painful, full of emotion, and bracingly honest, Delaney's memoir offers solace to those who have faced devastation and shows us how grace may appear even in the darkest times.
"A devastatingly candid account of a parent's grief that will have readers laughing and crying in equal measure ... Heart-wrenching and impressively self-aware." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Frank, razor-sharp writing ... Delaney digs deep on every page, baring his soul and sharing a remarkable range of emotions while relating the worst moments of his life. His is truly a heart that works." —BookPage (starred review)
"Profound, crushing, and wrenching, this account of a father's love takes the full measure of grief." —Publishers Weekly
"What a read. Its beauty and pain and humor and anger will help many people. This is a beautiful monument." —Richard Osman, author of The Thursday Murder Club
"Emotionally raw, yet masterfully told, A Heart That Works is the incredibly rare book that can move the reader to tears or fury or laughter within moments, if not at the same time. At the heart of this intimate story of coming to terms with death is a stubborn embrace of life itself." —Mat Johnson, author of Invisible Things and Pym
This information about A Heart That Works was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Rob Delaney is a comedian, actor, and writer. He is widely known as the award-winning co-creator and co-star of the critically acclaimed Amazon Prime comedy Catastrophe. He is the author of the memoir Rob Delaney: Mother. Wife. Sister. Human. Warrior. Falcon. Yardstick. Turban. Cabbage.
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