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Tasha: A Son's Memoir

Tasha: A Son's Memoir

by Brian Morton

Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster ·2022 ·208 pages ·Memoir
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73/99
Top of the Pile

90/99

Critics

Near the Top

56/99

Readers

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Scholars

86/99

Rating

94/99

Volume

65/99

Rating

47/99

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About This Book

A Washington Post Best Nonfiction Book of the Year In the spirit of Fierce Attachments and The End of Your Life Book Club , acclaimed novelist Brian Morton delivers a "superb" (Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air), darkly funny memoir of his mother's vibrant life and the many ways in which their tight, tumultuous relationship was refashioned in her twilight years. Tasha Morton is a force of a brilliant educator who's left her mark on generations of students—and also a whirlwind of a mother, intrusive, chaotic, oppressively devoted, and irrepressible. For decades, her son Brian has kept her at a self-protective distance, but when her health begins to fail, he knows it's time to assume responsibility for her care. Even so, he's not prepared for what awaits him, as her refusal to accept her own fragility leads to a series of epic outbursts and altercations that are sometimes frightening, sometimes wildly comic, and sometimes both. Clear-eyed, "deeply stirring" (Dani Shapiro, The New York Times Book Review ), and brimming with dark humor, Tasha is both a vivid account of an unforgettable woman and a stark look at the impossible task of caring for an elderly parent in a country whose unofficial motto is "you're on your own."


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Reviews

"But it is a gift of mature adulthood — and perhaps the work of writing memoir — to see our parents as people who exist outside of their centrality in our lives ..."

Dani Shapiro· The New York Times Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Morton's novels...all have in common a calm, caring voice that imbues the prose with a wry, pained tenderness, as if shaking its head at the human folly it describes."

Joan Frank· The Washington Post Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"one thing that sets Tasha far apart from the usual one-sided literary conversation with a deceased parent is Morton's rigorous attempt to see his mother, Tasha, whole — as a person — not 'just' in relation to him, or, God forbid, an eccentric 'character' ..."

MAUREEN CORRIGAN· NPR Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"[an] eloquent blend of humor and pathos ..."

Harvey Freedenberg· Bookreporter Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"I couldn't even slow down."

Joan Frank· The Minneapolis Star Tribune Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"...hilarious yet tender ..."

Alice Cary· BookPage Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

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