Home Is Burning

A Memoir

By: Dan Marshall

Narrated by: Dan Marshall

For the Marshalls, laughter is the best medicine. Especially when combined with alcohol, pain pills, excessive cursing, sexual escapades, actual medicine, and more alcohol. Meet Dan Marshall - 25, good job, great girlfriend, and living the dream life in sunny Los Angeles without a care in the world. Until his mother calls. And he ignores it, as you usually do when Mom calls. Then she calls again. And again. Dan thought things were going great at home. But it turns out his mom's cancer, which she had battled throughout his childhood with tenacity and a mouth foul enough to make a sailor blush, is back. And to add insult to injury, his loving father has been diagnosed with ALS.

Sayonara LA. Dan is headed home to Salt Lake City, Utah. Never has there been a more reluctant family reunion: His older sister is resentful, having stayed closer to home to bear the brunt of their mother's illness. His younger brother comes to lend a hand, giving up a journalism career and evenings cruising Chicago gay bars. His next younger sister, a sullen teenager, is a rebel with a cause. And his baby sister - through it all - can think only about her beloved dance troop. Dan returns to shouting matches at the dinner table, old flames knocking at the door, and a speech device programmed to help his father communicate that is as crude as the rest of them.

But they put their petty differences aside and form Team Terminal, battling their parents' illnesses as best they can when not otherwise distracted by the chaos that follows them wherever they go. Not even the family cats escape unscathed. As Dan steps into his role as caregiver, wheelchair wrangler, and sibling referee, he watches pieces of his previous life slip away and comes to realize that the further you stretch the ties that bind, the tighter they hold you together.

©2015 Dan Marshall (P)2015 Macmillan Audio

Listen. OMG, You Need to Listen to This Book.

Would you listen to Home Is Burning again? Why?

It opened my heart and filled it with love, sadness, joy, laughter and horror. I laughed and I cried. This stays with you. I finished it a week ago and it is still on my mind. Dan Marshall's family loves each other. And, they survive and love still. And they do it with humor and constant bad language.

The language is not for everyone. There is not a body part nor function that is not detailed with, of course, the bad language. Don't let this stop you. Just listen.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Bob Marshall, of course, for his kindness, strength, and goodness. Dan, the self-deprecating son-turned-care-taker. But, Dan's portrayal of Stana just kills me. Love her.

Which character – as performed by Dan Marshall – was your favorite?

Stana.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Laughed, cried, cringed and cried more.

Any additional comments?

Highly recommend.

Home is Burning

A beautiful heart felt story about a family dealing with unimaginable circumstances. The description of each family member is heart warming and you connect with them on personal level. You want and wish for happy ending.
Beautiful narrated by the author.

too much foul language

This was an amazing story that shares a families struggle with the father dying of ALS while the mother has cancer with a poor prognosis. Unfortunately it is full of cussing throughout. It expresses the struggles but the story could be well told without all of this and could still portray this families experiences quiet well.

Excellent!

I loved this story. I just lost my mom to cancer so it fit me and my family. And the language let's just say we must be related! lol Great book guys I cried and I laughed out loud so much my family told me to shut up countless times.

I'm with Bob

Brutally honest and often funny book about a family losing their father to ALS. Maybe a dark sense of humor is required to appreciate the book.

Mary Waltenburg

Very , very good, Great writing about ALS. The humor was well placed , anger , frustration , with cutting edge . I have red thousands of books, this books was the best l have ever read . I laughed out loud about the hardship of this condition. I identified with the writing. I had 2 son’s age 32 and 37 with Muscular Dystrophy , passing at age noted above The kinship in this family , outstanding , .harsh …witness of love .

Well done

I lost my father to ALS as well. In fact, he was diagnosed exactly one year after Dan's father died. My father passed away in 2011, so reading this was a revisit to a really dreadful time. But Dan had it right – how this impacts a family, the home healthcare, the BiPAP machine--all of it. The slow transformation of your world as it is completely turned upside down. Getting through the end of this book was almost too much to bear. Dan's description of his father sounds so much like my own. My father was also a marathon runner, we also used to live in Salt Lake City, my parents also had an elevator in their home, etc.… Crazy. This disease is so rare, it's really something not many can relate to. My first thought was "how can anyone find humor in a situation like this"? But Dan Marshall managed to do just that, while also being brutally honest about the devastation ALS brings as well. Great job. Great book.

Too Much Reflection

Deep into this deeply depressing life story/family implosion, the Author spends nearly an entire chapter musing through an endless list of ‘what if’ questions. I wanted to scream STOP! Author and obviously believes these are pertinent, but all they do is affirm his self-indulgent attitude.

Thank You

You will laugh and cry in equal measure. I feel less alone with my grief.

Great story if you can ignore all the crudeness

The base of the book was extremely good. The author needs to leave out the extreme cussing. One or two cuss words get across the effect but the continual crudeness almost made me quite listening to it. The author has real talent if he could not include his side crude statements. It would have been a five if he had.