It Takes a Worried Man: A Memoir
by Brendan Halpin

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Book Reviews of It Takes a Worried Man: A Memoir

Book Review: Wonderful book with a different--and important--perspective
Summary: 5 Stars

I have to take issue with the review posted by the gentleman who feels his "30 years" in the health profession gives him the right to dismiss Halpin's honesty and humor as inappropriately glib and/or somehow sexist. Allow me then to draw on my many years of experience as a woman--one who has watched a good friend battle breast cancer and win as concrete a victory as is possible with this disease. There is nothing "off" about Halpin's tone, or his use of irony to articulate the profound absurdity--and pain--of what life sometimes throws our way. And there is no mistaking who is the real hero in this story--his wife Kristin. Halpin's love and powerful respect for his wife is palpable and tremendously moving. But equally moving is the real and extremely human reaction he has to the overwhelming fear and frustration that confronts both he and his wife on a daily basis. His fear and frustration is not analogous to hers--and how could it be? The author acknowledges his own constant underlying awareness that Kristin is the one who is sick, not him. He cannot shield her from this, and cannot truly ever know what it is she experiences. And this is not always an easy thing to for him to cope with. Sometimes in his struggle to be--simultaneously--a strong husband, a responsible father, an exemplary teacher and a good person, he finds himself faltering. Don't we all. His moments of joy, of anger, of despair, of goofiness or of self-deprecation build on the foundation of his love for his wife--and this is all the stuff of real life.

Ultimately, this is not simply a work about a loving, imperfect spouse trying desperately to be a good man in a difficult situation. In a larger sense, this memoir is about the profound demands--and the profound joys--of human companionship. This is really an amazing portrait of what "marriage" means. And in that, it is far more than any simple-minded criticism can dismiss.

Summary of It Takes a Worried Man: A Memoir

Memoirs Books

• Books > Subjects > Biographies & Memoirs
• Specific Groups > Special Needs
• Health, Fitness & Dieting > Disorders & Diseases > Cancer > Breast Cancer