Book Review: All the Wrong Places by Philip Connors.
First of all, I want to say that I never read Fire Season, Mr. Connors' first book. Secondly, I am glad I didn't read this during the Christmas holidays, when I was dealing with my own personal anguish. Connors writes a soul-baring book about his own struggles with his brother's suicide, but that's not the centerpiece of the book. The point of Connors' memoir is the ways in which we deal with horrible things that happen in our lives and over which we have absolutely no control.
Connors worked over, under, around, and finally, through his brother's death in ways that were both edifying and self-destructive, but the tale he tells is ultimately that we are all able to deal with even the most horrendous of situations. He talks about his losing his brother, his brother's apparent anguish, his parents' ability (or not) to cope with the loss of their son. This book is honest, brutally so at some points, but I feel that it was a catharsis for Mr. Connors to write. I would recommend this book to older teens and people 20 and up. It's a great read. It is sometimes difficult to read for sure, but a great read all the same. This is a book which has stayed on my mind months after having read it. Thank you, Philip Connors, for the strength to be vulnerable.
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (February 16, 2015)
ISBN-10: 0393088766
ISBN-13: 978-0393088762
