I Will Do Better: A Father's Memoir of Heartbreak, Parenting, and Love

By turns comical and heartbreaking, I Will Do Better is the remarkable journey of two defiant and wounded people, and their personal growth in the name of love.

Named one of the Best Books of Fall by Oprah Daily and People

"A uniquely forthright and powerful addition to the literature of fatherhood." (Kirkus)

The novelist Charles Bock was a reluctant parent, tagging along for the ride of fatherhood, obsessed primarily with his dream of a writing career.

But when his daughter Lily was six months old, his wife, Diana, was diagnosed with a complex form of leukemia. Two and half years later, when all treatments and therapies had been exhausted, Bock found himself a widower--devastated, drowning in medical bills, and saddled with a daunting responsibility. He had to nurture Lily, and, somehow, maybe even heal himself.

I Will Do Better is Charles's pull-no-punches account of what happened next. Playdates, music classes, temper tantrums, oh-so-cool babysitters, first days at school, family reunions, single-parent dating, and a citywide crippling natural disaster--were minefields especially treacherous for Charles and Lily because of their preexisting vulnerability: their grief.

Charles sought help from friends, family, and therapists, but this overgrown, middle-aged boy-man and his plucky child became, foremost, a duo--they found their way together.

This frank and tender memoir of parenting his infant daughter in the wake of of his wife's untimely death is "bracingly honest [and] tender," commented Publshers Weekly. "Single parents will find much to identify with in this warts-and-all account."

Author: Charles Bock
Publisher: Abrams Press
Published: 10/01/2024
Pages: 208
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.61lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.70w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9781419774423


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 07/01/2024
Publishers Weekly 08/19/2024
Booklist 09/01/2024 pg. 17
Shelf Awareness 10/03/2024

About the Author
Charles Bock is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Beautiful Children and Alice & Oliver, and a creative writing professor at New York University. The father of two daughters, he lives in New York City.