Finding Immortality

In this lyrical and poignant book, Finding Immortality: The Making of One American Family, award-winning writer Herbert Hadad records the joys and sorrows of parenthood and, in so doing, opens a wide window into family life that is intimate and unmistakably American. The masterful prose of Finding Immortality conveys the true tale of one family confronting and triumphing over real issues, from infidelity and drink to mortality and racism. These universal themes provide a treasury of lessons for parents and all other admirers of fine writing to learn and enjoy. Here is what some readers have had to say about Finding Immortality:These gritty and flavorful essays address the emotional costs of virtue, faith, and true love.Lawrence Wright, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction for The Looming Tower and staff writer for The New Yorker An elegant writer and story teller, Hadad spins tales as compelling as OHenrys. These are vivid, often roguish, portraits of the angst and pleasures of contemporary existence. Selwyn Raab, author and retired New York Times reporterKid boxer and life-long journalist Herb Hadad has been around. Hes seen a lot. Part Jew, part Arab, and all American, he loves his children, his wife, and his world. These stories will clear the mind and warm the heart. Benjamin H. Cheever, novelist and journalistAs strong as the bonds are among Herbert Hadads family members in these pellucid domestic narratives, he makes clear that as a father he has as many faults as the next guy. These are not stories about suburban Care Bears. Yet the episodes flow so smoothly that you imagine it must be easy to do this kind of writing. It isnt.Stephen S. Pickering, retired New York Times staff editor Hadad doesnt blink, he doesnt flinch. He looks straight at his subjects, sometimes in sorrow but mostly in joy, and tells the stories that dwell in most of us. Finding Immortality is a wonderful read.the late Dennis Duggan, columnist, Newsday Herb Hadad distills with a great eye and a great ear what we care about and presents it brilliantly, with wit and understanding.Dr. Myles Striar, professor of education emeritus, Boston University, writer, and translatorHis essays are personal and quirky, with an angle, a larger theme, that makes them stick and gives them an edge. The big test: as a reader it is hard not to care about Herbert Hadad and his family. I think of E.B. White here, how he could make his geese, his dachshund Fred, his neighbor with the plow, himself with doldrums, all off-center and yet universal, something we understood. He made his little world feel connected to ours, us to him. Thats the gift. I think Herbert does that.Geraldine Van Dusen, editor and freelance journalist