Father's Day

March 5, 2012
Bissinger’s twin sons, Gerry and Zach, were born three minutes apart, and although both boys were born prematurely, Gerry left the hospital after two months able to breathe on his own; Zach remained in the neonatal intensive care unit, struggling to breathe and to survive. Although Zach never recovered from the brain injuries caused by lack of oxygen, he grew into a lovable man who loves people and who is a savant who memorizes people’s birthdays, features of maps, but who also loves the familiar and the routine structure of his life. Though Bissinger (Friday Night Lights) clearly adores both his sons, he admits to feeling like having run away from Zach, whether out of fear or indifference or feelings of failure. So when Zach turns 24, Bissinger proposes that the two of them set out on the open road and drive across the country. In this wrenchingly honest road tale, Bissinger searches desperately to discover who his son really is as well as to come to terms with his own feelings of inadequacy and insecurity as a parent. Although Zach is at first resistant to making the trip, he acquiesces and provides comfort and wisdom for his father along the way as Bissinger struggles with his GPS, traffic, and other minor inconveniences over which he often loses patience. In the end, he movingly fears for Zach’s future and still sheds a tear for him every day, and he touchingly concludes that Zach is the most fearless man he has ever known, and the most admirable.

March 1, 2012
The author of Friday Night Lights (1990) chronicles a cross-country road trip he shared with his 24-year-old brain-damaged son Zach. In addition to probing his son's inner life, Vanity Fair and Daily Beast contributor Bissinger (Three Nights in August, 2005, etc.) attempts to re-create the pleasure he took in being on the road with his own father. The author explains that Zach has the comprehension skills of a 9-year-old because of brain damage suffered at the time of his premature birth, three minutes later than his twin brother Gerry. Yet while Zach's mental processes are slow, he has a phenomenal memory, complete recall of past events, friends with whom he corresponds by e-mail and a close relationship with Gerry. Because of his limited mental capacities, Zach works as a supermarket bagger: "He has been doing the same job for five years, and he will do the same job for the rest of his life," writes the author. "My son's professional destiny is paper or plastic." Bissinger laments what he believes to be his son's impoverished mental life in ways that sometimes seem unduly condescending--e.g., expressing disappointment that he prefers swimming or sitting by the hotel pool to gambling at the tables in Las Vegas, one of the stops on their trip. The author describes an exciting bungee jump that he shared with his son, and meetings with friends and relatives they visit on the way to Los Angeles, but much of the book is devoted to flashbacks about incidents in his own life, his failures and disappointments as well as the pains and pleasures of fatherhood. Surprisingly, while he had hoped to help his son expand his mental horizons, the author was the one who gained valuable insights, one of which was the realization that his son does indeed have a rich inner life. An intriguing memoir that suffers from confusing narrative lapses, such as contradictory accounts of Zach's work history.

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April 15, 2012
From the author of Friday Night Lights (1990) comes this moving memoir. Bissinger has two sons, Gerry and Zach, both born prematurely three minutes apart. But those three minutes made a world of difference: oxygen deprivation caused brain damage in Zach, who now, in his mid-twenties, has comprehension skills equal to an eight-year-old. But he also has very special gifts, including a remarkable memory and a ceaseless curiosity about the world. What makes this memoir unusual isn't its story (father and son take a road trip from Philly to L.A. and have many misadventures as they grow closer together) but rather Bissinger's unflinching honesty. He describes his impatience with Zach's repetitive routines and his own frustration with his inability to make his son understand certain things. By being so open about his own struggles as a father, Bissinger turns our eye back toward ourselves, prompting, perhaps, a similiar honesty in our own self-reflections. Although its subject matter is vastly different from that of the popular Friday Night Lights, readers of that book will note the same keen eye for character and emotion here.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

December 1, 2011

Born just a few minutes after his twin, Bissinger's 24-year-old son Zach is a savant, in some ways intellectually limited yet also boasting an extraordinary memory and navigational skills. Bissinger (Friday Night Lights) recounts what he learned from him during a cross-country trip. Few memoirs address a parent's relationship with a grown child facing challenges, which could make this book useful as well as moving.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.