I Will Do Better

Will Do Better is New York Times bestselling writer Charles Bock's frank and tender memoir of parenting histoddler daughter in the wake of his wife's untimely death.The novelist Charles Bock was a reluctant parent, tagging along for the ride of fatherhood, obsessed primarilywith his dream of a writing career. But when his daughter Lily was six months old, his wife, Diana, wasdiagnosed with a complex form of leukemia. Two and half years later, when all treatments and therapies hadbeen exhausted, Bock found himself a widower-devastated, drowning in medical bills, and saddled with adaunting 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 acitywide crippling natural disaster-were minefields especially treacherous for Charles and Lily because of theirpreexisting 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.By turns comical and heartbreaking, I Will Do Better does not shy from moments of sadness, anger, orawkwardness. It's the remarkable journey of two defiant and wounded people, and their personal growth inthe name of love.