Dear Father, Dear Son

By: Larry Elder

Narrated by: Neal Ghant

Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's Summary

Stunning...a wonderful listen...a handbook for life. Those words of advance praise from another celebrated author scarcely convey just how powerfully mesmerizing is the latest book by New York Times best-selling author and nationally syndicated radio talk show host Larry Elder.

Dear Father, Dear Son is a personal memoir of Elder's troubled - one might even say tortured - relationship with his father, and the astonishing outcome that develops when Elder, at long last, confronts him.

Says Elder: A man's relationship with his father - every boy, every man lucky enough to have a father in his life has to figure that out. My own father? I thought I knew him - even though he seldom talked about himself. And what I knew I hated - really, really hated. Cold, ill-tempered, thin-skinned, my father always seemed on the brink of erupting. Scared to death of him, I kept telling myself to find the courage to "stand up to him". When I was 15, I did. After that, said Elder, we did not speak to each other for 10 years.

And then we did - for eight hours. The result can't be described. It has to be experienced.

As reflected in the book's subtitle - Two Lives...Eight Hours - one extraordinary, all-day conversation between Elder and his long-estranged father utterly transformed their relationship. It is no exaggeration to say the book will likewise transform listeners.

Indeed, calling it stunning, Burt Boyar, co-author of the best-selling autobiography on Sammy Davis, Jr., says of Dear Father, Dear Son: "Above all it is a wonderful read. I am tempted to call it a page-turner but in my case I hated to turn every page because that meant I was getting closer to the end and I did not want it to end.... The book is filled with emotion. It is, of course, a handbook for life. I guess it is that above all things. Any kid who reads it and follows the advice of how to live his life just has to come out well."

Dear Father, Dear Son is the story of one man discovering a son he never really knew. And of the son finding a man, a friend, a father who had really been there all along.

©2012 Larry Elder (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Fathers and Sons

This book had me second guessing my relationship with my own father, and provided a different perspective on motives behind actions and perceived slights. Not that it took the book to point these out, but it was refreshing to see someone else with the same take/epiphany. Regardless of where my relationship with my dad stands, I'm indebted to him for sticking around and being a father. This is a beautiful story of a father and son finally coming to know and understand one another, a story of hard work and overcoming adversity. I loved every minute, and the narration couldn't have fit the story any better. I listened to this back to back, and have shared with many people how much I enjoyed this story and performance.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

What lovely memories

Oh Larry - this journey of yours was so amazing. Thank you for sharing it with us. I remember listening to your shows everyday and especially the Chief Justice on Fridays. Since those days I've become an Elderada and listen religiously! You are so smart and so engaging! Thank you for being you!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

amazing book

I absolutely loved the book. The narrator also did a great job!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

So well-written, you cannot stop.

Once I started, I was compelled to finish it--laughing all the way. Haunting, melancholy moments followed by side-splitting scenes from his past or his father's propel you through chapter after chapter. Reaching the end of the book left me with two competing reactions: sadness that it was over and gratitude that I was now armed with a new perspective for viewing and reviewing my own relationships--all of them.

Well Worth It.

This book is very inspiring that we should take time to ask our fathers and mothers of who they were before becoming parents. My father always told me you can't learn from history from a book but to those that lived it.

excellent narration, excellent story telling

I have to thank Larry Elder for this wonderful book. Felt factual and earnest like his political discussions. Neal Ghant does a freakishly good job. His voice is similar to Larry Elder’s voice, so I could pretend they are the same. And his voice acting of other characters upped the quality of this audiobook to another level. Excellent job

great audible book

loved the narrator did a great job, recognize each voice that he did as a story went along

book review

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. one of the most memorable moments what's Dennis's funeral. narration very good

A beautiful book

At first I hated his father, but as I kept listening I grew to love him, to understand how his struggles shaped the man he became.

The narrator added to the whole experience; his performance really made the people come to life .

Larry Elder has written an amazing account of his and his family's lives intertwined with the titular eight hour conversion. I would definitely recommend to my friends and family, and to anyone reading this review.

Gripping story, poignantly read by author

I love the way the story was told in flashbacks from Larry Elder's growing up years, his father's harsh youth, their eight hours of conversation, and finally an heartfelt epilogue. A treasure of a book to help understand how families work and sometimes don't work well. Thank you, Mr. Elder, for writing an honest book.

An amazing and reaffirming book.

Larry Elder is one of those writers that doesn't pepper his writing with superlatives but his intelligence shines through in every word. This book is paced so well; a piece of non-fiction that reads like fiction but never once do you forget that the narrative is underpinned by the slow bubble of forgiveness and reconciliation between a father and son that is (at times) brutally real.

I really enjoyed this book. Can't recommend it enough. I was glued to it.