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4.31 AVERAGE
4.31 AVERAGE
Heartbreaking and hysterical. My heart broke into a million pieces.
Michael Ausiello's partner of 14 years, Christopher "Kit" Cowan, is diagnosed with a particularly virulent form of cancer, and while describing the eleven months from diagnosis to death, Mr. Ausiello takes the reader on a journey through two lives, thirteen years of a love with its ups and downs, and managing to live those lives as fully as possible while facing death.
There is a lot of snark and dark humor here; the couple were unafraid to speak harsh truths in biting and profane terms, and Mr. Ausiello does not hold back on details I'm sure many readers would consider to fall in the range of TMI. Not me. If your voice is one comfortable with talking about loss of control of bodily functions, who tops and bottoms when and how, the size of your partners genitalia, well then, I say go for it. However, I think I would have held back about my Smurf-obsession, but that's just me.
I laughed and I cried and I asked myself, "WHY DID YOU READ THIS? YOU KNOW HOW YOU ARE?" It's not easy. And it's not particularly uplifting. But, if you've watched someone you love, ravaged by disease, die, you will know whether or not sharing someone else's story is for you.
There is a lot of snark and dark humor here; the couple were unafraid to speak harsh truths in biting and profane terms, and Mr. Ausiello does not hold back on details I'm sure many readers would consider to fall in the range of TMI. Not me. If your voice is one comfortable with talking about loss of control of bodily functions, who tops and bottoms when and how, the size of your partners genitalia, well then, I say go for it. However, I think I would have held back about my Smurf-obsession, but that's just me.
I laughed and I cried and I asked myself, "WHY DID YOU READ THIS? YOU KNOW HOW YOU ARE?" It's not easy. And it's not particularly uplifting. But, if you've watched someone you love, ravaged by disease, die, you will know whether or not sharing someone else's story is for you.
This look is an LGBTQIA memoir about Michael Ausiello's relationship with his husband and their fight against an aggressive rare cancer, which, as the title says, ultimately claims his husband's life.
This book was a pretty solid 3 for me. I didn't love the tone and voice of the novel the whole time because it felt too dramatic and invoked imagery that didn't work for me - like referencing that they giggled like two young school girls. I like a good balance of show-don't-tell and have read enough memoirs that have done a good job balancing the two, but this book really stuck with telling everything. This bothered me a little bit because it made his actions seem more exaggerated and 'comical' even though they might've been in a more serious situation. I realize it was probably supposed to bring levity, but sometimes you just need to feel the sadness or tension in the scene and not be distracted by levity. Those moments also made me feel as if the author was more immature and annoying than cute. Ultimately, it didn't use that imagery overly often and I was able to finish the book.
What the author did well was show his love for his husband. This was a tribute and it captured the uniqueness of their particular relationship (all relationships are special and unique in one way or another!) and their intense love for one another.
This book was a pretty solid 3 for me. I didn't love the tone and voice of the novel the whole time because it felt too dramatic and invoked imagery that didn't work for me - like referencing that they giggled like two young school girls. I like a good balance of show-don't-tell and have read enough memoirs that have done a good job balancing the two, but this book really stuck with telling everything. This bothered me a little bit because it made his actions seem more exaggerated and 'comical' even though they might've been in a more serious situation. I realize it was probably supposed to bring levity, but sometimes you just need to feel the sadness or tension in the scene and not be distracted by levity. Those moments also made me feel as if the author was more immature and annoying than cute. Ultimately, it didn't use that imagery overly often and I was able to finish the book.
What the author did well was show his love for his husband. This was a tribute and it captured the uniqueness of their particular relationship (all relationships are special and unique in one way or another!) and their intense love for one another.
With a title like this you probably know that at some point you will have tears. A BEAUTIFUL story about the relationship Michael and Kit shared spanning 13 years, the last 11 months of which they dealt with a rare and aggressive cancer prognosis. Their relationship is so tender and you can feel the love the two shared as Ausiello recounts various escapades they faced while navigating the world together. Close to the year he was given, Kit succumbed to his illness leaving Michael to continue without him. I am blissfully unaware of Ausiello’s professional accomplishments but this story was a joy to read and he has overcome so much in his personal life after losing both of his parents. Despite the heartbreak the story was lovely with laugh out loud moments and humor sprinkled throughout. A relationship to aspire towards forsure. (Sidetone, I did not find nearly as many four letter words as the title would’ve suggested?)
Ok, so perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to read this book while I’m still grieving a breakup. Also not helpful: that his husband’s nickname is Kit which was my ex’s nickname. So, to say that I approached this book with any sense of objectivity is not true at all. I think I cried on almost every single page of this book.
I’ve been following Ausiello’s career for over ten years now. His website is one of the few that I check on a daily basis. I’m a huge fan of his work but up until now, I didn’t know very much at all about his personal life. And thanks to this book, I now know more than I ever wanted to about his personal life.
This book was beautiful and was a lovely tribute to his husband. I could feel the intense love they had for each other and it made me so much sadder that their grand love story didn’t have a happy ending. I was shattered by Kit’s death even though I knew it was coming.
If you are anywhere in the stages of grief, don’t read this book. Trust me on this. However, you should read this book because it is beautiful and evocative. But at least wait until you aren’t in the midst of deep grief. Someday, I hope to have a grand love story like Michael and Kit did, only I hope mine doesn’t end with death by cancer. This is a true work of art and is one that I’ll treasure although I don’t know that I’ll be able to re read it anytime soon.
I’ve been following Ausiello’s career for over ten years now. His website is one of the few that I check on a daily basis. I’m a huge fan of his work but up until now, I didn’t know very much at all about his personal life. And thanks to this book, I now know more than I ever wanted to about his personal life.
This book was beautiful and was a lovely tribute to his husband. I could feel the intense love they had for each other and it made me so much sadder that their grand love story didn’t have a happy ending. I was shattered by Kit’s death even though I knew it was coming.
If you are anywhere in the stages of grief, don’t read this book. Trust me on this. However, you should read this book because it is beautiful and evocative. But at least wait until you aren’t in the midst of deep grief. Someday, I hope to have a grand love story like Michael and Kit did, only I hope mine doesn’t end with death by cancer. This is a true work of art and is one that I’ll treasure although I don’t know that I’ll be able to re read it anytime soon.
*I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a review.
On one hand, this was a fast read, with a lot of the snark and humor I've come to expect from Michael Ausiello - I've been a fan of his for years and years so I was excited to hear he had written a book. And yes, it was a sad story but for more than just the death of his partner. Yes, parts of it made me smile but too much of it made me think, this is too much information. Nothing is held back, everything is now public information and I guess good for him for putting himself out there but some of what I read felt like it should've stayed private, I felt uncomfortable reading some things. Yes, death is uncomfortable but I'm not even talking about that - it's more just a lot of information about their relationship. Part of me is glad that he doesn't portray Kit as this hero, as the title would suggest, he exposes the flaws in both of them and their relationship, which make the story more relatable. But I wonder if there was just a few things that could've been left out. Maybe they were in the final version. Or maybe it's just me. 3.5 stars.
On one hand, this was a fast read, with a lot of the snark and humor I've come to expect from Michael Ausiello - I've been a fan of his for years and years so I was excited to hear he had written a book. And yes, it was a sad story but for more than just the death of his partner. Yes, parts of it made me smile but too much of it made me think, this is too much information. Nothing is held back, everything is now public information and I guess good for him for putting himself out there but some of what I read felt like it should've stayed private, I felt uncomfortable reading some things. Yes, death is uncomfortable but I'm not even talking about that - it's more just a lot of information about their relationship. Part of me is glad that he doesn't portray Kit as this hero, as the title would suggest, he exposes the flaws in both of them and their relationship, which make the story more relatable. But I wonder if there was just a few things that could've been left out. Maybe they were in the final version. Or maybe it's just me. 3.5 stars.
4.5 stars if I could. I laughed, I cried and then cried some more. Amazing story from someone who just gets it. Tweeted the author to let him know how much I appreciated his story and he replied!
