The Bill from My Father: A Memoir

I wasn't sure at first whether I would stick with this memoir, as the tale of an irascible, shouting, aged father struck a little too close to home ["each of them implied that my father was irascible while at the same time commending in him a certain charm they had a hard time putting their fingers on". But I'm glad I did. Well written and containing humor as well as pathos, there are some remarkable turns of phrase and descriptions, such as this one in which he has driven up to a curb where his father sits, seeming not to recognize him. "With the windows rolled up, the world surged by with barely a sound. He seemed to be sealed inside the sunlight just as surely as I was sealed inside my car. I was afraid to roll down the window, show more afraid he wouldn't respond to my voice, wouldn't react if I called him Father. Stranded in the gap between silence and speech, I could almost feel my own name loosen and peel away, leaving me raw and anonymous." Highly recommended. show less

I thought this story was both funny and sad. The author and his father had a mutually ambivalent relationship for most of their lives until the son finds himself becoming the caretaker for his father. It's touching to see the son attempting to understand his father while still finding humor in their somewhat odd relationship.

This book is not exactly what I expected. From the title, I expected the bill to appear a lot sooner in the book -- it wasn't mentioned until page 175 or so. Instead, the first 3/4 of the book focuses on the contentious relationship the author has with his father. I'm not sure if I liked the book or not.

This is the best book I've read in a long time.