Tasha: A Son's Memoir
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Average rating5
15
Ratings1
Average rating5
"In the spirit of Fierce Attachments, Bettyville, and The End of Your Life Book Club, acclaimed novelist Brian Morton delivers a moving, 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 nature: 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, loving, and brimming with dark humor, Tasha is an exploration of what sons learn from their mothers, 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," and a meditation on the treacherous business at the heart of every family--the business of trying to honor ourselves without forsaking our parents, and our parents without forsaking ourselves. Above all, Tasha is a vivid and surprising portrait of an unforgettable woman"--
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My local library had this book on display and it had been recommended to me by my daughter, so I happily picked it up. Well, I read it in two days and I loved it. Profoundly loved it. Having aging parents, I could relate to some thing on literally every page of this book. It helps that he is a deft and quick-witted writer, at times self-deprecating, other times angry, but always brutally honest with himself and thus the reader. Of course, it doesn't hurt his storytelling that his mother was one hell of a woman: a trailblazer in her small part of the world. An educator, a survivor, and a bit of a rabble rouser on everything from politics, the changes in education, to the goings on at her local Jewish community center. There is heartbreak on display here and it is palpable, but there's also catharsis, and those of us eyeing our own Tashas of our worlds, can relate and boy oh boy can we appreciate his thoughts, his words, and all he shared here. I highly recommend this short 200ish page read. 5/5
