A New York Times Notable Book: A man sorts through the secret life of his troubled, reclusive brother in this โpowerful, moving personal historyโ (Entertainment Weekly).
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Every family has its odd character, the one who never seems right with the world. When a grieving John Vernon was charged with settling his brotherโs affairs, he came face to face with a life he had never suspected. His brotherโs house in southern New Hampshire was in a state of squalid, shocking disrepair: piled high with a lifetime of trash, unheated and decrepit, and pitifully unlivable. An assembly worker and an amateur inventor, Paul had managed to keep his sad and strange world hidden. But John couldnโt help but search for reasons. Why does a childhood full of promise turn wrong? Why do we clutter our lives with things? What are the meanings behind the material objects we acquire?
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John seeks answers in the most unexpected places. Buying a hammer and thermometer at Walmart, this icon of consumerism inspires a short history of tools and the discovery of mercury. Paulโs wake occasions an investigation of blood circulation and embalming. He voyages through science and physiology, culture and mythology, on a search โfor a way to comprehend a life that left behind not splendid monuments but ordinary wreckage.โ
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The result is a book of reasons: reasons for his brotherโs way of life, reasons for his own response to Paulโs death. Linking the story of one odd individual to the surprising and irregular upheavals of history, John discovers how reasons, for all of us, are one means of learning to accept things that can never be explained.
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โ[A] heartwarming tale of brotherly love.โ โThe Wall Street Journal
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โA beautiful performance lit by stark, revealing bursts of language and delivered with the gravity of liturgy.โ โPublishers Weekly
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โHis ability to evoke wonder is inspiring.โ โNewsday