Ian Cron in this memoir shares his experiences growing up with an alcoholic father who is emotionally absent from his family, and physically absent for months at a time because of his work with the CIA.
Cron slips back and forth between the present and the past, telling us his both his father’s story and his own. I am a huge fan of this technique, and it works so well with Cron’s story. Going back and forth allowed me to put the pieces of the story together, and again, a non-linear storyline forces me to really focus on what I’m reading. Cron’s story was interesting and funny enough as it was, but I loved that I couldn’t just speed through it.
And that’s the thing — this book had a great humor to it. Cron had every right and reason to be angry — deception and disease in your family when you are young sometimes leaves you that way — but has made peace with the life he has lived and instead of coming across bitter and angry, he comes across as raw and honest and funny. I couldn’t help but laugh several times throughout the book, and that made his message of God’s goodness and grace and His desire to have a relationship with everyone even more poignant.
This style made the reading that much more receptive to his message. Medicine can use a bit of honey, morality can use a bit of help too.
** This book was obtained for free from Book Sneeze, but this review is my own.
