Phoenix: A Brother's Life

by J.D. Dolan

Book Overview

A memoir of impeccable beauty--funny, sad, wise--about brotherhood, family, and the domestic arc of American life since the shiny-bright fifties. At the edge of the desert, in Los Angeles, J.D. Dolan... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375703179
• ISBN13: 9780375703171
• Release Date: March 2001
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Phoenix rising from the flames

Deceptively simple in manner and topic, this little tome - a memoir about the vagaries of familial love and reflections on the disappointments of the expectations of youth - holds more food for thought than many a treatise on contemporary philosophy. How much of this book is reportage and how much is embellished fiction is realy not an issue: the detailed description of a nouveau California transplant family in all its dysfuntional state recalls tales of immigrants, bits of Steinbeck, and chards of Camus, Wolfe, and other writers of the human condition. Yes, this is a painful tale of the loss of a brother to the burn injuries from an industrial accident. Yes, the coming to grips with death from the various vantages of family members, coworkers, doctors, etc is a line of penetrating thought. But this book is about so much more than these tales. "Phoenix: A Brother's Life" forces us to accept that we are too often a race of beings that fails to communicate, has lost the spirit of Family, has too little time for the work Love requires. And if ever we needed a wakeup call for embracing these losses it is surely now. Though the title defines the place where all of this finds its Golgotha - Phoenix, Arizona is the location of the hospital housing the Burn Unit that becomes the final destination for the slowly but inevitably dying brother - I think that by the end of this book the author subtly shares that this gruesome experience is akin to the mythological bird that rises from the flames to new life and discovery. Bravo, J.D. Dolan. And thank you from those readers wise enough to embrace this book.

A SPARE MEMOIR OF INCANDESCENT BEAUTY

J. D. or Jay Dolan has given us a rare gift - a spare memoir of such incandescent beauty and truth that it brings forth nods of affirmation. It is a story of love lost and reclaimed, a reminder of the sure knowledge that is sometimes kept locked within a human heart, and the saga of a family shattered by silence. An unpretentious, astute writer, Dolan is forthright in revealing his own rugged emotional terrain, as well as his days of womanizing and drug abuse. He is equally candid in describing flawed familial relationships, yet there is always a note of grace. ...The beauty of Mr. Dolan's book lies not so much in the recounting of a life, although his narrative skills are considerable, but in the redemption found and the love rediscovered. In his hands there is triumph amidst grief and hope derived from sorrow. Phoenix is an extraordinary debut by one who is already master of his craft.

Elegant, brave, wistful, wonderful . . .

I heard about this memoir from a friend -- and I called to thank him five times while I was reading it. Compelling, sad, so wise. My family isn't like Dolan's -- we're a noisy, vocal, confrontational group -- but I kept feeling a sense of familiarity and intimacy as I read his story. The writing is so spare and powerful it had a magical ability to make me feel I was living it with him. From now on, I'd buy anything with his name on it.

A wonderfully compelling and heartbreaking memoir.

This is, by far, one of the best memoirs I've read in years--a brutally honest exploration of family dysfunction coupled with the heartbreakingly tragic death of a big brother. Phoenix is a gripping, absorbing, and illuminating read. It's a book you'll read and re-read for years.

Phoenix: One of the most enjoyable books in years

Dolan's Phoenix is one of the most enjoyable books I've read in years. I could not put it down. It reveals the complicated, fascinating dynamics of his family before and after his brother suffers from a fatal tragedy. Yet it never feels maudlin or self-pitying in any way. In fact, the book has such a sharp sense of humor even in its darker passages. Reading this book made me think a lot about my own family: issues of silence, jealousy between siblings, and the need to redeem oneself. I was sad when the book was over. I really cared about these character and their dramatic, interesting lives. I hope Dolan writes a sequel. He creates characters that I want to spend even more time with.