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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.
"The tumultuous bond between a mother and son animates this unstinting yet tender work from novelist Morton...Part gut-punch comedy, part eulogy, this tribute is dazzling." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"[Morton's] affecting memoir reveals a desperate woman railing against indignities and loneliness and a son powerless to assuage her pain. Melancholy and familial devotion imbue a nuanced, poignant portrait." - Kirkus Reviews
"Morton's writing is conversational and engaging throughout, offering a vivid portrait of a sometimes-hilarious, sometimes-challenging relationship between a mother and son. This is a charming and sad memoir, reminding readers of life's inevitabilities, the beauty of the journey, and the lesson to hold on to those close to them with a fierceness." - Library Journal
"One of the truest, most insightful mother-child memoirs I have ever read." - Vivian Gornick, author of Fierce Attachments
"Yes, Tasha is an indelibly memorable character, but what makes the book really soar is the combination of her plus the author's truthful self-portrait: the two are locked in a pas de deux, for better or worse, that epitomizes the impossible-to-satisfy love of mother and child." - Phillip Lopate
"Brian Morton is a wonderful novelist, so it's not surprising that Tasha, his memoir about his stubborn, charming, exasperating mother, is moving, funny, and most of all honest—about old age, about mothers and sons, about what we owe our loved ones and ourselves. It's a profound, riveting book." - Joshua Henkin, author of Morningside Heights
This information about Tasha was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: David Kumin
Brian Morton is the author of five novels, including Starting Out in the Evening and Florence Gordon. He has been a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Koret Jewish Book Award, the Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Pushcart Prize, and a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner award and the Kirkus Prize in Fiction. He's also written two detective novels under the pen name Raymond Miller. He teaches at Sarah Lawrence College and lives in New York.
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