A Heart That Works

In this memoir of loss, acclaimed writer and comedian Rob Delaney grapples with the fragile miracle of life, the mysteries of death, and the question of purpose for those left behind.When you're a parent and your child gets hurt or sick, you not only try to help them get better but you also labour under the general belief that you can help them get better. That's not always the case though. Sometimes the nurses and the doctors can't fix what's wrong. Sometimes children die.Rob Delaney's beautiful, bright, gloriously alive son Henry died. He was one when he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. An experience beyond comprehension, but an experience Rob must share. Why does he feel compelled to talk about it, to write about it, to make people feel something like what he feels when he knows it will hurt them? Because, despite Henry's death, Rob still loves people. For that reason, he wants them to understand.A Heart That Works is an intimate, unflinching and fiercely funny exploration of loss - from the harrowing illness to the vivid, bodily impact of grief and the blind, furious rage that follows, through to the forceful, unstoppable love that remains. This is the story of what happens when you lose a child, and everything you discover about life in the process.

Burnout is common among doctors in the West, so one might assume that a medical career in Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world, would place far greater strain on the idealism that drives many doctors. But, as A Heart for the Work makes clear, Malawian medical students learn to confront poverty creatively, experiencing fatigue and frustration but also joy and commitment on their way to becoming physicians. The first ethnography of medical training in the global South, Claire L. Wendland’s book is a moving and perceptive look at medicine in a world where the transnational movement of people and ideas creates both devastation and possibility. Wendland, a physician anthropologist, conducted extensive interviews and worked in wards, clinics, and operating theaters alongside the student doctors whose stories she relates. From the relative calm of Malawi’s College of Medicine to the turbulence of training at hospitals with gravely ill patients and dramatically inadequate supplies, staff, and technology, Wendland’s work reveals the way these young doctors engage the contradictions of their circumstances, shedding new light on debates about the effects of medical training, the impact of traditional healing, and the purposes of medicine.

From a Deadpool 2 fan favorite comes a “hilarious, raw” (Rolling Stone) memoir about love, sex, parenthood, work, substance abuse, and everything else that makes life wonderful and/or horrible. Updated with new material! Rob Delaney is a comedy superstar. But if you’re ever watched him steal scenes as Peter in Deadpool 2, binged his streaming series Catastrophe, encountered his raunchy and mischievous Twitter presence, or witnessed the hilarious and painful sharing he does in his stand-up, you already know that. In his first book, he traces his journey from middle-class theater geek to public menace to devoted family man and passionately engaged model citizen—from his youthful obsession (and pen pal relationship) with heavy metal band Danzig and an episode of drunken bungee jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge, to his court-ordered stint in rehab and the miracle of his son’s birth. All together, these essays make clear why it is he is so darn lovable—and so f#!%ing funny. Praise for Rob Delaney “Unlike some books by comics, Delaney’s volume offers a rich, deeply considered (and yes, funny) look at his life. . . . A great read by any standard, but even more so for including stories about needing (and failing) to find a bathroom while jogging.”—E! Online “One of the most hilarious bundles of words we have ever read.”—Vice “A book as funny, sincere, weird, wet, and wonderful as Rob Delaney himself.”—Jimmy Kimmel “Heart-wrenchingly true tales exuding self-effacing whimsy and smart-guy charm.”—Splitsider “Delaney has a knack for pinpointing what’s hilarious and sad about adolescent bed-wetting and his own abundant body hair, but somehow the darkest chapters [in this book] make you laugh hardest.”—Entertainment Weekly “Rob Delaney has done it again! Actually, this is his first book, so he has not ‘done it again.’ Actually, this book is so good, I doubt he will be able to do it again. He’s peaked.”—Judd Apatow “Rob’s transition from tweets to book is like a gold medal sprinter winning the marathon the next day. I am jealous and angry.”—Seth Meyers “WARNING: This book may cause involuntary seepage. Some funny, funny, funny, funny s*** from the most dangerous man on Twitter. The fact that he’s just as funny in long form makes me want to vomit with envy.”—Anthony Bourdain

This full-color celebration of communities engaged in creative cultural expression profiles nine exemplary grassroots arts projects depicting an intersection of creativity with love of place. Stories range from children building an African-inspired mud facade on their Oregon middle school to an annual blessing-procession and festival in North Philadelphia that brings to life dozens of the most depressed blocks in urban America. Other regions represented include Minneapolis, Boston, Berkeley, rural Maine, San Francisco, the New York Bronx, and Vancouver, Canada. Community-based arts resources are sited throughout. Works of Heart offers a compendium of multicultural human-interest stories that will inspire and inform both community development professionals and citizen activists. Among those profiled are Lily Yeh and the Village of Arts and Humanities, Clara Wainwright and the Faith Quilts Project, Dolly Hopkins and Public Dreams, and the Beehive Collective.

An instant national bestseller • A Reese's Book Club Pick • An instant New York Times bestseller • A New York Times Notable Book of 2022 • A Globe and Mail Best Book of 2022 • Named a Best Book of 2022 by People, TIME Magazine, The Washington Post, USA Today, NPR, Los Angeles Times, and Oprah Daily, and more From the #1 bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere, comes the inspiring new novel about a mother’s unbreakable love. “It’s impossible not to be moved.” —Stephen King, The New York Times Book Review “Riveting, tender, and timely.” —People, Book of the Week “Thought-provoking, heart-wrenching…I was so invested in the future of this mother and son, and I can’t wait to hear what you think of this deeply suspenseful story!” —Reese Witherspoon (Reese’s Book Club Pick) Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. His mother Margaret, a Chinese American poet, left without a trace when he was nine years old. He doesn’t know what happened to her—only that her books have been banned—and he resents that she cared more about her work than about him. Then one day, Bird receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, and soon he is pulled into a quest to find her. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of heroic librarians, and finally to New York City, where he will finally learn the truth about what happened to his mother, and what the future holds for them both. Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can ignore the most searing injustice. It’s about the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children, and the power of art to create change.