Home Is Burning

Description

At twenty-five, Dan left his 'spoiled white asshole' life in Los Angeles to look after his dying parents in Salt Lake City, Utah. His mother, who had already been battling cancer on and off for close to 15 years, had taken a turn for the worse. His father, a devoted marathon runner and adored parent, had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease which was quickly eroding his body. Dan's four siblings were already home, caring for their parents and resenting Dan for not doing the same. Home is Burning tells the story of Dan's year at home in Salt Lake City, as he reunites with his eclectic family -the only non-Mormon family of seven in the entire town- all of them trying their best to be there for the father who had always been there for them.

Reviews

It's hard to imagine how a memoir about moving home to take care of your cancer-stricken mom and your dying dad could be fun to read, but Dan Marshall manages to pull it off. Equal parts hilarious and heart-breaking, Home is Burning proves that with family, tragedy always has company. -- James Frey Both a touching memoir about the author losing both his parents, and the funniest fucking thing I've ever read-profane, self-aware, and ruthlessly honest. Dan Marshall might be a self-described 'spoiled white asshole,' but he's also a depraved comedic genius. -- Justin St. Germain A death in the family-the whole miserable and hilarious story, complete with all the gory mechanical details of grief, rage, drug binges, hostility, self-pity and more rage. -- Rob Sheffield Horrible. Hysterical. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Just like life. -- Jenny Lawson

Author description

DAN MARSHALL grew up in a nice home with nice parents in Salt Lake City, Utah, before attending UC Berkeley. After college, Dan worked at a strategic communications public relations firm in Los Angeles. At 25 he left work and returned to Salt Lake to take care of his sick parents. While caring for them, he started writing detailed accounts about many of their weird, sad, funny adventures. Home Is Burning is his first book.