I Will Do Better - by Charles Bock (Hardcover)

About the Book

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.

Book Synopsis

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 the Year by The New Yorker and Kirkus Reviews
Named one of the Best Books of the 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."

Review Quotes

"I Will Do Better is searingly honest and compulsively readable--a memoir of survival, grief, and the fathomless ways our fates are tethered to those of people we lose, people we fail, people we love. This book will get deep under your skin."--Rebecca Makkai, New York Times bestselling author of I Have Some Questions for You

"A moving tale about an unimaginable challenge. I couldn't help but root for this dad and his little girl, swept along by the precarity of their situation as much as by their evident bond . . . In the end, I Will Do Better made me want to 'do better.'"--Alysia Abbott, author of Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father

"Bock holds himself to a high standard of honesty and self-revelation.... Both lyrical and muscular."--Marion Winik, WYPR

"Charles Bock's brilliant and absorbing new memoir of raising a toddler on his own--while trying to come to terms with loss and generally struggling to keep the lights on--is as magical and effervescent as Lily, the little girl at the book's center. The book radiates with feeling, humor and insight--into parenting, the city, ambition. Although it is about the attempt to move forward (or at least to keep going) after tragedy, I Will Do Better is nevertheless a joy to read--bursting with beauty and life even as it resists any hint of sentimentality or cliche. One of the best memoirs I've read in years."--Adelle Waldman, bestselling author of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.

"In his distinctive prose style, both lyrical and muscular, Bock evokes a chaotic kaleidoscope of tones--irony, anger, literary ambition, fierce parental protectiveness, loneliness, toxic masculinity... A uniquely forthright and powerful addition to the literature of fatherhood."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"More tender than the night is Charles Bock's large menschy heart. And more tender still is the prose he brings to I Will Do Better, a true story that encompasses and conveys the ultimate sadness and the most profound hope."--Gary Shteyngart, New York Times bestselling author of Our Country Friends

"The book is . . irresistibly candid about both grinding challenges and unexpected moments of joy."--The New Yorker

A fantastic memoir.--OPRAH Daily

A moving family love story.--PEOPLE Magazine

Bock brings readers along on his journey of learning how to grieve, how to heal, and how to care for his daughter...Bock is exceptionally honest with his feelings, never afraid to expose sadness, anger, or painfully awkward moments, all of which make his story highly relatable.--BOOKLIST

Bock offers an unvarnished account of raising his daughter, Lily, after his wife, Diana, died of leukemia... bracingly honest ... [and] tender... Single parents will find much to identify with in this warts-and-all account.--Publishers Weekly

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.