ROCK, MEET WINDOW
A Father-Son Story
A funny and poignant memoir that delves into the magic, fails, and meaning of fatherhood.
Humorist and family-man Jason Good is an only child with an atypical story to tell. His isn’t the usual rant about how hard it is to be a modern father or a tale about a damaging relationship with his father. Jason grew up with a charismatic, communicative, affectionate, and frustrated political science professor for a father–a man who taught him most everything about how to be a dad, how to live. Jason was figuring out how to parent his own two young boys when his dad was diagnosed with cancer and told he had nine months to live.
A funny and poignant memoir that delves into the magic, fails, and meaning of fatherhood.
Humorist and family-man Jason Good is an only child with an atypical story to tell. His isn’t the usual rant about how hard it is to be a modern father or a tale about a damaging relationship with his father. Jason grew up with a charismatic, communicative, affectionate, and frustrated political science professor for a father–a man who taught him most everything about how to be a dad, how to live. Jason was figuring out how to parent his own two young boys when his dad was diagnosed with cancer and told he had nine months to live. That moment, and the year that followed, inspired Jason to tell the story of something he had always taken for granted: how his father had earned his true friendship and admiration in adulthood by the way he had parented him to manhood.
Jason Good’s book shows how an imperfect father can be perfection in all the ways that matter in the end, moving us to alternately hoot and become wet-eyed through his retelling of the friction points and lessons learned. Ultimately, this book inspires us to reconsider our own relationships and to appreciate the power of fatherhood.
- Chronicle Books
- Hardcover
- May 2015
- 224 Pages
- 9781452129228
Buy the Book
$22.95
About Jason Good
Jason Good is a contributing writer to The New York Times, Parents Magazine, GQ, and Psychology Today and the blogger behind JasonGood.net. He is husband to a fantastic woman, and father to two sons. He works from home in a small, cold office with plenty of sunlight, and frequently wears noise canceling headphones. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Praise
Serious illness may have been the force to bring this father and son closer, but comedy ultimately infuses their shared sense of understanding, respect and camaraderie. —Shelf Awareness for Readers
Discussion Questions
In which ways is Jason’s relationship with his father similar or dissimilar from your own relationship with your mother or father. Michael is a unique and interesting person, but is there anything unique about his relationship with Jason?
Was there a moment in your life when you suddenly saw your mother or father as a true adult – flaws and all?
If you have children, did becoming a parent help you understand your own parents more accurately, or provide you with a different perspective on them? What are they like as grandparents?
Does Jason idolize his father? Or does he have a healthy, realistic idea of who he is and his relationship to him.
What do you think of Jason’s mother? Is she really as simple as he makes her out to be, or is there a depth to her that he perhaps left unexplored?
Michael experiences a difficult time with his brother, Paul in relation to stem cell donation. Would you donate stem cells or bone marrow to a sibling? Is it OK for someone who doesn’t trust traditional, western medicine to decline donating based on his or her own fears and suspicions?
Clement shared some personal emails with Michael in regards to this issue. Do you think it was right for him to do that? How do you imagine Gayle feels, knowing that her opinions were forwarded without her knowledge?
What do you think about the level of involvement Jason had with his father’s illness?
Michael is very specific that he doesn’t care about a funeral. “What do I care? I’ll be dead,” he says. Do you believe him?
Have you cared for an ailing parent? How did it change your relationship with him or her?