Raising the Dad is a small masterpiece that charts the all-too-familiar forces hastening the decline of the average American family, and in it Tom Matthews has produced a classic novel of modern life.
In Raising the Dad, the dysfunction in John Husted's family is vexing enough: His marriage has slipped into a state of passionless functionality. His teenage daughter is growing distant and mean. His older brother-a washed-up heavy-metal singer-is fresh out of jail, and their mother may be slipping away to dementia. Things just seemed to veer off course since the death of the family patriarch many years earlier.
But, then John is stunned to learn that his father's fate was not what he had long believed it to be. It falls upon John to decide if he should break the news to his family, knowing that the truth could make the family whole, or smash it to pieces.
"In this touching story of a father and son reconnecting in an extremely unconventional way, Matthews (Like We Care, 2004) provokes tough questions surrounding death and confronts the complicated choice to either end or sustain a loved one's life. Delivered with humility and humor, a seemingly unbelievable scenario becomes very real and brings a family at the brink of falling apart back together."
Booklist
"Raising the Dad mines family dysfunction for all of its complex truths and wild emotions. Tom Matthews strikes the damnedest balance"
