Synopses & Reviews
"Captivating, moving and always observant, Garth Stein leads us through this deep-and often wrenching-family drama with confidence and deftness that sweep us in from the instant we meet unforgettable Evan. Whether laughing or wiping tears from our cheeks, page after page, all I can say is: What a wonderful, beautiful book; I will never forget it!"-Ben Sherwood, author of
The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud"Garth Stein brings a distinctly wise and modern voice to a timeless tale of fathers and sons and the choices we all face. His characters are as real and moody as the wet streets and spotty charcoal skyline of the setting-present-day Seattle-and the story's resolution resonates with the lingering satisfaction of all great literature."-Mark Lindquist, author of Never Mind Nirvana
Evan had a hit single. But that was eight years ago. Thirty-one now, he's drifting, playing in a local band and teaching middle-aged guys to coax music from an electric guitar.
Beset at a young age with a life-threatening form of epilepsy, he's kept his condition a secret, even from his bandmates. Only his family knows, and they don't know why he had the accident that caused it. Nor has he revealed his deepest secret: At 17, Evan got his high-school sweetheart pregnant. Then, her conservative parents whisked her out of Seattle and out of Evan's life.
Now, 14 years on, he experiences unplanned parenthood when he undertakes to raise the resentful teenage son he's never known. Evan has a second chance at fatherhood but possesses none of the qualities of a traditional father. He has to learn, just as his son has to learn to love him. Neither is easy.
Offbeat and disarming, How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secretsportrays a contemporary American family with unfailing honesty. Maybe being a father means being there for your child, no matter how belatedly you arrive.
Garth Stein, a former documentary filmmaker, was co-producer of the Academy Award-winning short film The Lunch Dateand director of When Your Head's Not a Head, It's a Nut, which chronicles his sister's brain surgery for epilepsy. How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secretsi
Review
"Evan's emotional journey...hits all the frets of a powerful story: sharp-witted dialogue, vivid characters, insight into medical challenges and prose that snaps like well-placed plucks of guitar strings." Seattle Times
Review
"A funny, bewitching, observant book about families." The Oregonian
Review
"What a wonderful, beautiful book; I will never forget it!" Ben Sherwood, author of The Man Who ate the 747
Review
"An unconvincing second outing (after Raven Stole the Moon, 1998)." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Garth Stein brings a distinctly wise and modern voice to a timeless tale of fathers and sons and the choices we all face....[T]he story's resolution resonates with the lingering satisfaction of all great literature." Mark Lindquist, author of Never Mind Nirvana
Review
"Whether laughing or wiping tears from our cheeks, page after page, all I can say is: What a wonderful, beautiful book; I will never forget it!" Ben Sherwood, author of The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud
Synopsis
Fathers never forget seeing their kids for the first time. But Evan is greeting his son, Dean, fourteen years late. The boy had been shuttled secretly to another city, along with his teenaged mother, while still a newborn. Now his mother has passed away, and Evan is it Dad. An instant single parent.
Instead of smiles and gurgles, Dean is full of snarls and resentment. Little wonder. So Evan must win over his teenaged child or forever suffer the guilt of having failed his son. In the process, he has to contend with his own uptight Anglo-Saxon paterfamilias. Also his chosen work rock musician.
Evan, thirty-one, is the one-time lead guitarist for a hot group with a hit single. Except that was then, this is now. At present, he is a sometime guitar instructor for middle-aged guys trying to coax funky sounds from their electrics. Or else doing menial work in a music shop. Hardly the stuff of dreams or success.
Dean changes everything. Evan can't keep drifting now that he's a responsible father. He will have to do something about his life if he's going to provide for the two of them. Partly it will mean facing his own father, at long last. Mostly it means facing up to himself and a nagging, burning issue that is like a hole in his soul the epilepsy that haunts him and threatens his every moment.
Synopsis
“Funny, bewitching, observant.”—
The Oregonian “Hits all the frets of a powerful story: sharp-witted dialogue, vivid characters, insight into medical challenges and prose that snaps like well-placed plucks of guitar strings. . . . I hold up my lighter and turn it full-flame for [Garth] Stein’s latest work. Encore!”—The Seattle Times
“Compelling.”—Seattle Post-Intelligencer
“Stein handles the many narrative elements deftly.”—Seattle Weekly
“An engrossing family drama.”—Publishers Weekly
Evan had a hit single, but that was ten years ago. Thirty-one now, he’s drifting, playing in a local band and teaching middle-aged men to coax music from an electric guitar.
Beset at a young age with a life-threatening form of epilepsy, he’s kept his condition a secret. But his deepest secret is that he got his high school sweetheart pregnant. Then her conservative parents whisked her out of Seattle and out of Evan’s life.
Now, fourteen years later, he experiences unplanned parenthood when he undertakes to raise the resentful teenage son he’s never known.
Off beat and disarming, How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets portrays a contemporary American family with unfailing honesty.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
About the Author
Garth Stein, a former documentary filmmaker, was co-producer of the Academy Award-winning short film, The Lunch Date, and director of When Your Head's Not a Head, It's a Nut, which chronicles his sister's brain surgery for epilepsy. How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets is his second novel; his first, Raven Stole the Moon, was published by Pocket Books. He is a writing instructor for kids, working as a resident with Powerful Schools in Seattle, and he has recently completed his first full-length play, Brother Jones. He lives in Seattle with his wife and children.