The Hero of This Book

A Novel

By: Elizabeth McCracken

Narrated by: Elizabeth McCracken

A Most Anticipated Book of Fall from: Los Angeles Times * Boston Globe * BookPage * Book Riot * The Millions * Publishers Weekly * LitHub * St. Louis Post Dispatch * Town & Country

A taut, groundbreaking new novel from bestselling and award-winning author Elizabeth McCracken, about a writer’s relationship with her larger-than-life mother—and about the very nature of writing, memory, and art

Ten months after her mother’s death, the narrator of The Hero of This Book takes a trip to London. The city was a favorite of her mother’s, and as the narrator wanders the streets, she finds herself reflecting on her mother’s life and their relationship. Thoughts of the past meld with questions of the future: Back in New England, the family home is now up for sale, its considerable contents already winnowed.

The woman, a writer, recalls all that made her complicated mother extraordinary—her brilliant wit, her generosity, her unbelievable obstinacy, her sheer will in seizing life despite physical difficulties—and finds herself wondering how her mother had endured. Even though she wants to respect her mother’s nearly pathological sense of privacy, the woman must come to terms with whether making a chronicle of this remarkable life constitutes an act of love or betrayal.

The Hero of This Book is a searing examination of grief and renewal, and of a deeply felt relationship between a child and her parents. What begins as a question of filial devotion ultimately becomes a lesson in what it means to write. At once comic and heartbreaking, with prose that delights at every turn, this is a novel of such piercing love and tenderness that we are reminded that art is what remains when all else falls away.

The narrator of this review is not the author

What a joy, the fey magic of this not-memoir.

Having now read the book on the printed page and listened to the author narrate such a brilliantly conceived whatever it is, I’m convinced there is no better master of well-mannered brutality.

Hell of a book. Highly recommend.

Needs a professional narrator

Really interesting style a mix of memoir/ fiction. And of course the writing was excellent. I thought long and hard about it but still believe this audiobook needed a professional narrator. Surely one can be found who imparts the same wry tone but brings more varied intonation than the author ( who all but admitted in her text that she is a poor actor).

From an Admirer of An Exact Replica...

I have read most of McCracken's books, and my favorite is her beautiful memoir, An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination. This book is a perfect companion to that one. It's brilliant and compact... and made me want to call my own mother and tell her I love her.

A Wonder

Hmmmm. What word is worthy of this performance? Magical? No, too teenagery. Wonderful? No, too boring. Hmmmm. What is the word for a lot of unsentimental love, some prickliness, a sliver of macabreness, and an admirable vigor?

Just lovely + perfect in the author's own voice

The wink and nod of the not-a-memoir bit is handled deftly and the reader never feels toyed with, thanks to a relatable frankness and wisely-timed peeks behind the privacy curtain McCracken sets up to shield her loved ones. If you can imagine vulnerable truth-telling by a person who by nature resists vulnerability and unvarnished sharing--that's what this is. Lightly varnished sharing. I came away respecting the boundary she established and grateful for the story she shared. She offered ample means to connect, as a reader. And I applaud her reading in her own voice. It's just the right voice for the material and the right material to eschew a high production value presentation. It felt intimate and real. Do recommend.