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    The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
    The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
    The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving

    Written by Jonathan Evison

    Narrated by Jeff Woodman

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Benjamin Benjamin has lost virtually everything-his wife, his family, his home, his livelihood. With few options, Ben enrolls in a night class called The Fundamentals of Caregiving taught in the basement of a local church. There Ben is instructed in the art of inserting catheters and avoiding liability, about professionalism, and how to keep physical and emotional distance between client and provider. But when Ben is assigned to nineteen-year-old Trev, who is in the advanced stages of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, he discovers that the endless mnemonics and service plan checklists have done little to prepare him for the reality of caring for a fiercely stubborn, sexually frustrated adolescent. As they embark on a wild road trip across the American West to visit Trev#8217;s ailing father, a new camaraderie replaces the traditional boundary between patient and caregiver. #160;#160;Bursting with energy, this big-hearted, soulful, and inspired novel ponders life#8217;s terrible surprises and the heart#8217;s uncanny capacity to mend and become whole again.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateAug 28, 2012
    ISBN9781611749007
    The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
    Author

    Jonathan Evison

    JONATHAN EVISON is an American writer known for his novels All About Lulu (winner of the Washington State Book Award), West of Here (New York Times bestseller, winner of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award and the Booklist Editor’s Choice Award) and The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving (currently in development for film). In 2009 and 2011 he was nominated by the American Book Association as “Most Engaging Author.” In his teens, Evison was a founding member and frontman of the Seattle punk band March of Crimes, which included future members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. Born in San Jose, California, he now lives on an island in western Washington with his family. His latest novel, This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance!, will be published in September 2015.

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    Reviews for The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving

    4/5

    44 ratings37 reviews

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    • 4/5
      So funny, so sad, yet so hopeful. We pick up the main character near the end of a life tragedy, but before he hits rock bottom. Once a stay-at-home father, the only thing he believes he can do is take care of people. Thus, he falls into the job of caretaker. Via a road trip governed by Murphy's Law, the narrator develops relationships with his passenger with a subconscious white knight syndrome-type behavior. It makes the reader wonder if he is caring for those because he feels he should or because it make his disposition seem somewhat more positive. In an offbeat way, we learn that with the cup half empty there's always potential for a refill.
    • 5/5
      This is a tremendous book. The author has managed to layer a heartwarming, witty, at time funny and poignant story on top of tragic premise.
    • 3/5
      Benjamin is a father. Or rather he was a father. Now he is the doubly bereaved parent, former stay-at-home dad, future ex-spouse of Janet. Janet is determined to put their tragedy behind her and move on without Ben. Ben’s life may have unravelled a couple of years ago but he is still holding on to the final few threads for no apparent reason. He won’t sign the final divorce papers. And, after a short course leading to a certificate, he is embarking on a new career as a caregiver, even though he is clearly the one in need of care. Ben’s first posting is with a nineteen year old boy, Trev, who has MD. Trev is wheelchair bound and, perhaps not surprisingly in this novel, has failed father issues as well. Bob, Trev’s father, left his wife and son in the lurch, unable to cope with the prognosis. Bob would now like to return and rebuild his shattered relationship with his son, but Bob has more things going wrong than merely poor parenting. ‘More’ is an understatement, since Bob is a nightmare of ineptitude. However, he is no worse than Ben in many ways, and later, we discover numerous other failed fathers. It’s like a club but without the comfy seats and refreshments.There is no way not to know what is likely to happen in this novel. That’s not because of the clunky parallel structure through which, in alternate chapters, Ben recounts the fateful days leading up to the deaths of his two young children. It’s because the characters are paper thin and the plot is a single thread. The author, in an afternote, shares some of the personal tragedy of his life that clearly spurred on the writing of this novel. He claims not to know why the story, after the mid-point, turned into a road novel. Ben and Trev pack up Trev’s wheelchair accessible van and head out to see some of the stranger sites (sights?) of America, ostensibly headed to a reconciliation between Bob and Trev. The reason the novel takes this turn is due to the thinness of the characters. They need the episodic interactions that the road provides in order to carry the load that more substantial characters might have taken on. Sure enough, Ben and Trev meet a host of odd souls, undergo trial and tribulation, and eventually grow a bit. Before the end, Ben is tasked, literally, with cutting an umbilical cord. So we’re not talking subtle here.Despite its weaknesses, I don’t want to be too hard on this novel. Perhaps I’m at an age when I empathize a bit with sad sack heroes. And even if the content is insubstantial, at least it doesn’t feel pernicious.
    • 4/5
      Ben Benjamin used to be a happy man – not merely contented, he was truly happy. His wife, a successful veterinarian, made the kind of money that allowed Ben to stay home with the couple’s young son and daughter, an arrangement both agreed was, by far, their best parenting option. He was doing a good job, the kids were healthy and happy, and the family’s future was bright. But then Ben learned a painful life-lesson, one likely to scar him emotionally for the rest of his life: “…nothing is indestructible.” His wife and children were snatched from him in an instant, leaving him with no family, no home, no job, and just barely enough will to go on. Down to his last few dollars, Ben decides to try something different to earn his keep. He enrolls in a night school class called “The Fundamentals of Caregiving,” learns the basics of the job, and signs up with a placement agency. Although it is not immediately evident, Ben and his very first client, a nineteen-year-old Muscular Dystrophy patient, will become a perfect match because young Trevor, who is being raised by his single-mom, needs a male role model as badly as Ben needs someone to help stabilize his own life – whether he knows it or not.Ben is riding a rollercoaster of misplaced blame and emotional fatigue and, at the beginning, he sees caregiving as just another job. After all, it pays only nine dollars an hour, and he has been instructed never to form an emotional attachment to any of the people for whom he finds himself responsible. But, as Ben and Trevor begin to bond, Ben is surprised by how important the job suddenly becomes to him. Then, when Trevor’s mother surprisingly agrees to their plan for a cross-country road trip that will allow the pair to visit as many bizarre roadside attractions as possible, Ben and Trevor do some growing up together.For Trevor, this is a real coming-of-age experience, one in which some of his dreams and fantasies finally do come true. For Ben, it is an opportunity to change in ways that will permit him to get on with the rest of his life before it is too late, maybe even a chance to start liking himself a little bit again. Trevor and Ben, along with the three misfits they encounter along the way, form a makeshift little family that none of them will ever forget – and all five will be the better for having been a part of it.The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving is all about life’s surprises – the good ones, and the bad ones. This is a novel filled with tragedy, emotional pain, and broken people, but do not be put off by that. True, it might put a tear or two in your eye, but by the time you finish The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, you will be smiling. You might even be inspired to make a change or two in your own life. Rated at: 4.0
    • 2/5
      I get it. This is one of those books about the plight of the White Guy Who Has Suffered Great Personal Tragedy and The Hope for The Future that Lies in Our Children. Great. Now I feel all warm and fuzzy. This didn't fly for me. Read this plot before in all its varients. This novel served as an excellent reminder of why I should avoid books of this type.
    • 5/5
      The title and the cover art aren't attractive. Nevertheless, I am glad I listened to this audiobook. A feel-good road-trip story with a lot to say about the nature of coming to terms with adversity, death and grief. I was able to figure out pretty quickly what had happened to main character Ben's family, but that did not detract from the plot thanks to interesting, amusing, quirky characters. Narrator Jeff Woodson is excellent at bringing them all to life.
    • 5/5
      Fabulous tragi-comic story of the connection between two men in varying degrees of brokenness, and how they ultimately help one another to heal. Trev is a young man with muscular dystrophy, dealing with the typical wants and needs of a red-blooded 19 year old male and a body that makes it near impossible to meet girls. Ben is a thirtysomething who has lost his family under terrible circumstances, and becomes a caregiver in a last ditch attempt at some kind of a life in the real world. When Ben and Trev embark on a roadtrip to see Trev's dad in Salt Lake City, not only do they meet up with a crazy cast of characters but they rediscover their own humanity and a sense of hope for the future. Awesome writing, really funny and at times heart wrenching dialogue, plus characters that jump of the page.
    • 5/5
      Benjamin has lost almost everything and so he takes a class so he can become a caregiver. His first assignment is with a difficult boy named Trevor who has muscular dystrophy and is quite angry. As we learn Trevor's story, we also learn Ben's. Why he is alone, what happened to his family. This story is both comedic (the road trip Ben takes Trevor on is such a great piece of writing) and poignant, a story of loss but also a story of redemption. I adored this book and would recommend it highly.
    • 4/5
      With The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving I was treated to a somewhat snarky, somewhat endearing, and fully heart-breaking story as I followed Benjamin Benjamin (yes, you read that right) through the passage of healing from a terrible tragedy.Benjamin's life is pretty much in shambles, and now he has completed his training to take care of folks in need in their homes - and as a result fortune favors him with a young man with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Their meeting was fortuitous ... for both.With enough humor to take what would have otherwise been a dismal story, Jonathan Evison weaves the story of Benjamin's present and past into a story that had me flipping pages quickly. There was crude humor (but really hilarious stuff) and enough touching moments that I actually said "aww" out loud and had to catch my breath before I started to cry.Evison gives us a full cast of characters, ranging from the teenage runaway, to the ex-wife, to the strange neighbor lady and her pets. There's high speed chases, road-trips, family bonding, and accidents that will make your heart seize up as you consider the implications of it all. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and it's not often I recommend a book by a male author for one of those beachy, summer reads but I think that The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving is easily one of those books I can recommend for just that.
    • 2/5
      I get it. This is one of those books about the plight of the White Guy Who Has Suffered Great Personal Tragedy and The Hope for The Future that Lies in Our Children. Great. Now I feel all warm and fuzzy. This didn't fly for me. Read this plot before in all its varients. This novel served as an excellent reminder of why I should avoid books of this type.
    • 4/5
      In his third book, Evison utilizes the familiar genre of the road novel to explore ideas about family, loss, and compassion. All of Evison's trademarks are present here: excellent characterization, strong narrative voice, and poignant humor. For whatever reason, this book didn't seem to have quite the emotional wallop that Evison successfully provoked with the unraveling bildungsroman of Lulu or the the painfully human historical epic that was West of Here. In certain moments, the pathos here felt forced and slightly awkward, but considering the context of the story, maybe it was supposed to have come across that way. Altogether another highly readable and well crafted novel from Evison, who no doubt has many more surprises up the sleeve of his sport coat.
    • 5/5
      Jonathan Evison has been on my radar ever since I saw All About Lulu in bookstores, but I just hadn't gotten around yet to reading any of his novels. After reading the Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, though, I'll be sure to catch up with what I've been missing by reading Lulu and West of Here. Revised Fundamentals provides everything I look for in a novel - a fully fleshed out protagonist caught up in something that the author explores in both a serious and comic vein, a supporting cast of fully rounded out characters, and a writing style that lets you know you're in the hands of an author who knows how to turn a sentence and a story.

      In many blurbs and reviews, Revised Fundamentals is discussed as a road novel, but the road aspects of the novel don't kick in until about halfway through. The first half of the book explores the relationship between the central character, Benjamin Benjamin, and the young man, Trev, with muscular dystrophy that he is hired to take care of. In alternating chapters we also get flashbacks to the great horror of Benjamin's life - the accidental death of his two young children, which he feels partly to blame for. There's a slow reveal of what actually happened, though you can guess early on. When you do finally get the full story, it's devastating.

      To lighten that serious stuff, the author provides plenty of comic relief. It's been several years since the tragic accident, and Benjamin's wife has moved on with her life. Like most couples who experience the death of a child, they've separated and his wife has found a new man. She wants Benjamin to sign the divorce papers, and when he refuses to do so, she sics a process server on him. Benjamin's attempts to elude the server, while also dealing with a crazy neighbor in his apartment building who thinks he's feeding chocolate to her cat and killing one of her plants by dropping cigarette butts in its pot (he doesn't smoke) is very funny.

      The relationship with his patient, Trev, is also terrific. Because of his illness, Trev has led a very limited life - he spends most of his days watching the weather channel, and under the watchful eye of the boy's overprotective mother, Benjamin becomes Trev's first real guy friend as they trade bawdy, sophomoric jokes about what they'd like to do to the various female weather ladies. One of their ways of bonding is to plot out oddball tourist attractions - like's the world's deepest pit - on a map.

      After Trev's father, who abandoned the family when Trev was a baby, comes on the scene, the only one ready to give him any slack is Benjamin. The father, Bob, pays a fruitless visit to try to make amends to his family, but when he's turned away by his ex-wife and son, he decides to visit all the attractions his son has been mapping. But when Bob, who's comically inept at everything he does, gets into a car accident that leaves him in a leg cast, Benjamin and Trev decide to take a road trip to visit him.

      The road trip is fun and full of misadventures, as Benjamin and Trev pick up an oddball cast of characters along the away - including a cute runaway Trev's age, and a young pregnant woman with an ex-con boyfriend , who's convinced he's going to strike it rich with an invention that everyone but him and his girlfriend realize is patently ridiculous.

      Both storylines - the road trip and Benjamin's attempts to deal with his tragic past - come to a terrific climax that leaves you feeling the hours you spent reading about Benjamin and Trev's journeys was time very well spent.
    • 4/5
      I had heard and read so much high praise about this novel that I was afraid that there was no way that it could live up to it all ... yet it did. I was a happy man reading this book and so wished that it would go on for a few more hundred pages. This is a fascinating piece of work that is a most original take on the buddy/road trip story. Evison portrays characters who many would label losers. Just because someone isn't pulling in the big bucks, doesn't mean that they can't have some golden properties in other, more important area of life. Misfits and crippled folk, runaways and misguided inventors, the lonely and the loving, caring and cruel people — they all find a home in this generous, funny and redemptive story.
    • 5/5
      I have been an avid reader for as long as I can remember and a writer for nearly as long. I have discovered that writing is far more difficult than I ever imagined it to be. Therefore my admiration for writers is right up there with any artist, painter or sculptor. To craft a story, short story, novel, or essay is as difficult as laying the foundation for a statue, painting or piece of pottery or collage. To create the characters, the action, and the climax of a story or novel requires planning and the sheer determination and flexibility to rework what has been written over and over again until what is meant is as clear as it can be, so the writer hopes the reader interprets the writing as it was intended to be read. I admire the clear and concise writing by Evison in this novel. I was so entertained by the characters and the story-line that I didn't take the time to consider the mechanics until it was over. Only then did I recognize the work that must be done to create this deceptively "simple" story of loss and redemption.TRFoC is told by Benjamin Benjamin, a young man trying to pull himself together after a "disaster' befalls his young family. His grieving wife blames him, and his in-laws have disowned him. Seeing him is a painful reminder of their loss, and his role in it. After going through a series of undemanding and low-paying jobs he applies for a job as a caretaker for a young man with Duchennes Syndrome. Trevor suffers with this terrible wasting disease, bravely facing each day in a home where he is an only child to a single mother. After a period of adjustment, Trevor and Ben decide to go on a road trip to visit Trevor's father, an accident prone,rather pitiful but well-intentioned guy, who has just had a self-imposed accident, and is in a partial body cast. At this point in the audiobook, I felt as though I had heard the entire book, but I continued on, as I was really enjoying not only the writing but the narration. The road trip seems to be another book within itself, but you won't complain.I loved this book. Despite the sadness and guilt that Benjamin Benjamin constantly carries with him and tries to come to terms with, there are many moments of humor, much to laugh about as they meet up with others along the way.These characters are compelling and oftentimes needy. But they are also there for Ben during his darkest moments as he recollects his part in the "disaster' that tore his family apart.This is the first book in recent memory that did not have the inevitable chapter or two that makes me wonder if the editor was on vacation when they were passed to him. There was not a chapter, a sentence or a word wasted or in excess in TRFoC. It is entertaining and while evoking sympathy it is uplifting. The characters overcome their trials with encouragement from each other. This book does not paint any rosy pictures, but rather gives us life, the way it really is, part pain, part laughter, and with a little encouragement, survivable.The narrator was fantastic, but I'm sure the book stands on its own. Highly recommended
    • 4/5
      The book starts off with Benjamin Benjamin (yes that's his name) taking a class on care-giving because he is living off his credit card and just taking a break from life. Ben takes a job sitting with Trev a young adult with MD. Trev has routines. He watches weather channel, eats flax seed waffles, doesn't go out much. I fell head over heels for both these characters. They are funny, strong men.
      I hate giving away a lot of details in books but this one includes a road trip that changes both these guys. Not in bad ways because while flawed they both were awesome to start out.
      Just take my word for it. Go get it. Read it.
    • 4/5
      I received this book as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program, knowing not much about the author Jonathan Evison. I listen to audiobooks on my commute often, and typically find that though my tastes tend to be more literary when reading books in print, more plot-driven audiobooks do a better job of holding my interest. But I quickly found Evison's story to be perfectly suited to this medium--just literary enough that I know I would have enjoyed it in print, but with strong, quirky enough voices and plot turns to hook my attention from the start. This book has the tone and feel of an indie movie; it really put me in mind of Little Miss Sunshine: quirky plot and cast, some with sad and even tragic back stories that lead their crooked paths to converge on an off-beat road trip across the country. The themes and characters were complex and serious enough to feel very close to home (filled with reminders that happiness and health can be fleeting and are not to be taken for granted), but not enough to drag the story down to a depressing level. In fact, the overall message was the triumph of the human spirit even in bleak circumstances, and the way life has a way of bringing together people who need one another. Part of the book made me cry (it should have come with a warning not to read while driving!) but they were outweighed by the parts that made me laugh out loud. And having now read Evison's essay on his homepage about why he wrote this book, I find the story even more touching. I highly recommend reading this book in any format available, and then visiting the author's website for the book to learn more. I look forward to reading more from this talented writer.
    • 5/5
      We’ve come-of-age with Will Miller, traversed the Olympics with Mather and drank kiltlifter with Krig, now Evison is taking us on the road with Ben Benjamin and Trev, a young man cursed with muscular dystrophy.

      The book however, is more than the story of a road trip, it is a story of loss, suffering, alienation and redemption with a cast of very real, and flawed characters. While reading I found myself relating to each of the main characters at different points. This is one of the big things I am looking for when reading literature.

      Evison continues to reinvent himself with each novel and his latest in no exception. The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving is a great story full of humor and most importantly heart.
    • 3/5
      This book started beautifully, with a dark and gutsy premise. But the unrelenting misogyny wore me down. A few women-as-objects comments would have done fine to establish character; so many made me dislike the character and the author. I finished it, and it was a good read, but for me it did not live up to the initial promise.
    • 5/5
      perfection! a mixed up cast of lonely and quirky characters that come together and give each other hope! heartbreaking! heartwarming! funny!!! love!!
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed reading this quirky book of a seriously unlucky fellow who wrestles with a difficult, low-paying, job as a caregiver and, as one would hope, finds redemption for himself and some other characters, too. It held my interest, and at the end I was very glad I read the book. Then, in the meanwhile, and unfortunately a couple of other books were read and I actually had to read others' reviews of The Revised Fundamentals before I remembered what the book was about, and whether I liked it. That is not a big recommendation, is it?
    • 4/5
      What a beautiful story! It's not easy being a dad, and if you have tendencies to be in the vast group of people called "losers," it is even harder. This book makes me love the losers.Benjamin Benjamin is no longer caring for his children, for reasons that are revealed quickly in the book, although all the details are slowly spun out. Instead, he has taken a low-paying job as a caregiver for a young man with muscular dystrophy.There is, of course, a quest. Probably an ill-advised one, one that inevitably doesn't go as planned. There are dads who messed up, and who messed up badly, and are trying so desperately to atone. There is to-be dad who seems doomed to failure. There are other characters as well, and I loved every one of them. Motherhood ain't no piece of cake either, and one young woman is just on the verge of finding that out. With one of the loser dads. I know she is fictional, but I want good things for her anyway. A gentle story about ungentle life, this one got under my skin and into my heart.
    • 5/5
      Thirty-nine year old Benjamin Benjamin is not living the good life. His wife is hounding him to sign their divorce papers, he hasn't had a "real" job in eleven years (he was a stay at home dad), he's lost both his children in some sort of tragedy, he has no marketable job skills, his apartment is so small and poorly furnished that he refers to it as his "compartment." His car is on its last legs. As the book begins, he has just completed a course in care-giving/home health assistance and embarks on trying to find employment. He gets hired as a care-giver for 19 year old Trevor who suffers from Duschene muscular dystrophy, is confined to a wheelchair and whose male hormones have left him with a huge chip on his shoulder and an obsession about getting a girl. He is trying desperately to untangle himself from his overbearing mother. Over the course of several months, Ben and Trev bond as they take trips to the park, go out to eat, watch movies, play video games, go through Trevor's daily hygiene routines, and try to work around Trev's mom's list of do and don'ts. They develop a huge wall map where they trace an imaginary trip to visit imaginary sites. All the while, Trevor is reaching out for his long out-of-the-picture father, and Ben is trying to come to grips with the deaths of his two children, a story which is unfolded slowly over the course of the book in a series of flashbacks.Finally, Trevor's mom reluctantly agrees to allow them to take a road trip to see Trevor's father in Salt Lake City. Along the way, they encounter and fold into their family "tent" a melange of zany, lovable, comic-tragic characters representing all of life's exigencies. Trevor finds a girl. Ben finds another father lamenting the loss of his daughter. Although everything that can go wrong does, opportunities for change and redemption abound.In the end, Evison gives us relationships that enrich, explores the meaning of friendship and family, helps us root for underdogs and hold our breath in fear and sorrow as each piece of the puzzle slips into place. Its a glorious book, beautifully written, giving the reader hope, despair, redemption, and love. It is a book that leaves the reader with a smile as the last page is closed.
    • 4/5
      I received this as an audio book through Early Reviewers. It is a very enjoyable read/listen. The narrator is absolutely perfect in his voicing of Ben Benjamin and the various other characters that populate this heartwarming book. I enjoyed listening to it very much and liked it enough to be considering getting my hands on the print copy.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book! It is truly a good read. Jonathan Evison has done a great job at pulling the reader right into the story, and right into the story's heart. He handles heartbreak, disappointment, lost causes, with a of brave humor that one usually encounters only among the very injured...and most of the characters in this book are wounded. But such resilience! Such unmawkish compassion! His characters live and breathe and you just root for them. It's a beautiful story of Benjamin Benjamin (Jr.!), a man who has lost way too much, returning to the land of the living - through caregiving?! It says a great deal (of good stuff) about fatherhood, parenthood, friendship, healing, responsibility, trust, life itself, and it says it in such a winsome, believable voice. Revised is the kind of book you read, relishing every word, dying to find out how it's going to end, and yet not wanting it to end because it's just so enjoyable. My favorite book this year!
    • 5/5
      Beautiful book. I got choked up early on and raced through it. Painful, funny, and hopeful.
    • 5/5
      Excellent book. It will probably make my top 10 list for 2012. Interesting, quirky people populate the pages and seem to work in rounding out the story. Wonderful insight into an attempt to cope by a variety of people in different circumstances.
    • 3/5
      This was really just not my cup of tea. It was kinda depressing the whole way through. The author is talented and creates a vivid portrait of grief, but I didn't want to read it. The audiobook is well-done I suppose, but the narrator is really, really emotive. I prefer my audiobook narrators to be a bit more deadpan, but that is just personal preference.
    • 4/5
      Great read. Unusual, memorable characters all damaged in one way or another come together for quite a road trip
    • 2/5
      Eh, it's fine. There's nothing to wow anyone, but nothing offensive, either. A redemption story and a road trip novel, it has all of the elements and tropes that you would expect to find. Ben Benjamin, like his name, is a one-note character, stuck in a moment he can't let himself forget. It's not a spoiler to say that his kids die, and it's not a spoiler to say that he eventually (sort of) comes to terms with it, because you expect that to happen. I did have trouble imagining Ben as an aging Johnny Depp in a neck brace; that little descriptor appealed to the author for some reason, but didn't fit the character
    • 4/5
      I loved this book. It tells a story that is funny and sad and sweet and horrible in turns; complex enough to impress; and features a protagonist nobody can help but love.Benjamin Benjamin (called Ben) is 39; probably suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; and unemployed. After a quick course in “The Fundamentals of Caregiving,” he manages to get a position taking care of 19-year-old Trevor (“Trev”) Conklin, who has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). DMD is characterized by progressive muscular degeneration and weakness, with a shortened life expectancy. At the time Ben meets Trev, Trev’s body is tied in knots, “twisting his spine and tightening his joints so that his ribs all but rest on his hips now.” He reminds Ben of a pretzel, but one with a healthy imagination. In fact, Trev hasn’t stopped fantasizing about being with girls, and one of the reasons he picks Ben over other interviewees is that he senses a kindred soul in his quest for female connection.Ben gets fired by Trev’s mom, but ends up taking Trev as a friend on a cross-country trip to see the weird roadside attractions they had been mapping, and to visit Trev’s estranged dad. On the way they pick up a bunch of misfits who also need care, which Ben provides out of his odd obstinate belief in life and love.The story goes back and forth in time, as we find out how Ben got into his current sorry state, and how Trev, who, though he can’t move hardly at all on his own, is able to lead Ben on a journey to redemption. This one passage, narrated by Ben, shows you how subtle and expert the author is at packing a world of exposition and emotion into one small paragraph: "Trev breaks into a grin - not his signature evil genius grin or the uncomfortable tacked-on grin with which he so often greets adversity great or small but a genuine, lighthearted, devil-may-care grin. And something about it makes me want to cry.”Evaluation: This poignant “guy version” of Jojo Moyes' Me Before You is terrific.