Paul Hamilton's narrative on family dysfunction is in the tradition of Jeanette Wall's 'The Glass Castle'. Hamilton uncovers secrets about his family's past after he places his father in a dementia care facility. Hamilton sorts through his father's belongings and discovers documents revealing his father's immorality. FATHERS, MONSTERS AND SONS explores the perplexities of the fatherson relationship. Hamilton reviews the relationship by looking at this theme in movies like Star Wars and classic novels such as Frankenstein. Hamilton shares his journey towards recovery with straightforward poetry about his father and family. Hamilton concludes his narrative by issuing a call to reclaim the power of storytelling.
"Some years ago, the author, Jay Nordlinger, was in Albania. He was there to give a talk under State Department auspices. Albania was about ten years beyond the collapse of Communism. For almost 40 years, the country had been ruled by one of the most brutal dictators in history: Enver Hoxha. Nordlinger wondered whether this dictator had had children. He had indeed: three of them. And they were still in Albania, with their 3 million fellow citizens. Nordlinger wondered, "What are the lives of the Hoxha kids like? What must it be like to be the son or daughter of a monstrous dictator? What must it be like to bear a name synonymous with oppression, terror, and evil?" In this book, Nordlinger surveys 20 dictators in all. They are the worst of the worst: Stalin, Mao, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, and so on. The book is not about them, really, though of course they figure in it. It's about their children. Some of them are absolute loyalists. They admire, revere, or worship their father. Some of them actually succeed their father as dictator-as in North Korea, Syria, and Haiti. Some of them have doubts. A couple of them become full-blown dissenters, even defectors. A few of the daughters have the experience of having their husband killed by their father. Most of these children are rocked by exile, prison, and the like. Obviously, the children have some things in common. But they are also individuals, making of life what they can. The main thing they have in common is this: They have been dealt a very, very unusual hand. What would you do, if you were the offspring of an infamous dictator, who lords it over your country? Chances are, you'll never have to find out! But some people have-and this book investigates those lucky, or unlucky, few"--
Romp along with parent and child yetis, werewolves, giant lizards, and more as they stir up some monster-sized fun! Readers big and small, young and old, wild and tame, will roar with laughter and take this book by the horns, teeth, and fur...discovering that monsters and humans aren't so different—especially in the ways they love each other. Plus, this is the fixed-format version, which looks almost identical to the print edition!
In the riveting conclusion to the acclaimed dystopian series, a boy and girl caught in the chaos of war face devastating choices that will decide the fate of a world. As a world-ending war surges around them, Todd and Viola face monstrous decisions. The indigenous Spackle, thinking and acting as one, have mobilized to avenge their murdered people. Ruthless human leaders prepare to defend their factions at all costs, even as a convoy of new settlers approaches. And as the ceaseless Noise lays all thoughts bare, the projected will of the few threatens to overwhelm the desperate desire of the many. The consequences of each action, each word, are unspeakably vast: To follow a tyrant or a terrorist? To save the life of the one you love most, or thousands of strangers? To believe in redemption, or assume it is lost? Becoming adults amid the turmoil, Todd and Viola question all they have known, racing through horror and outrage toward a shocking finale.
In a novel set in an indefinite, futuristic, post-apocalyptic world, a father and his young son make their way through the ruins of a devastated American landscape, struggling to survive and preserve the last remnants of their own humanity
“On a par with such greats as Stephen King, Clive Barker and Peter Straub” (Midwest Book Review), Bentley Little brings his unnerving talents to the terrifying story of a dysfunctional family in crisis. Steve Nye writes for an alumni magazine and his long-term relationship is on the steady path to marriage. But his quiet life takes an unexpected turn when he receives a phone call from his mother. His father attacked her and has been committed to a mental asylum. The doctor says he’s suffering from dementia. But Steve’s father seems so calm, clear-eyed, and perfectly lucid when he whispers, “I killed her…” Is it simply another symptom of delusion and madness? To find the answer, Steve investigates the cryptic message leading him down a terrifying path of his own making—and of his own nightmares....
Celebrates all the incredible things dads can do in the eyes of their children, including cook super breakfasts, tell super-funny jokes, and chase super-scary monsters away at bedtime. -- provided by publisher.
Raising a Serial Killer A Father's Search for Answers In July of 1991 the country was shocked by the unfathomable crimes of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. But no one was more shocked than his parents. In A Father's Story, the reader is witness to the incremental unraveling of a parent's image of their child, and the "thousand different reactions" that follow. In his attempt to understand the nature of his son's psychosis, Lionel Dahmer methodically scrutinizes every possible contributing factor to his son's madness. His desperation is palpable as he searches for clues in the emotional, psychological, and genetic landscape of his son's life. Riveting and soul-wrenching, this unprecedented memoir is the confession of a father who must "confront the saddest truth a human can know-that his child has somehow crossed the line that separates the human from the monstrous."
