As I was walking down the aisles of Indigo, my go to bookstore. A curious cover caught my eye. “I Had a Brother Once.” I put it back on the shelf, thinking to myself, “You should never judge a book by it’s cover.” And yet, the thought of allowing a cliché to force me to not even peek and see for myself if the allure of the design lived up to my curiosities was unacceptable. I marched back to the memoir section and pulled the book from the shelf.

In an exploration of mortality, sorrow, and familial bonds, Mansbach ventures beyond the comedic realm he’s often associated with, diving into profound depths. Mansbach gained notoriety with his book “Go the Fuck To Sleep” in 2011, here he trudges through heavier terrain, crafting a raw and unfiltered narrative of his brother, David’s, suicide.

Mansbach’s prose, liberated from traditional constraints, takes on a lyrical quality, inviting readers into the intimate recesses of his grief-stricken soul. With gut-wrenching honesty, he recounts the moment of receiving the devastating news from his father, the weight of the words “David has taken his own life” echoing hollowly in his consciousness.

Yet amidst the anguish, Mansbach unearths fragments of insight, piecing together the puzzle of his brother’s life. Through introspection and dialogue with fellow survivors, Mansbach grapples with the incomprehensibility of suicide, seeking solace in shared narratives and collective sorrow. His journey is not one of closure but of acceptance, a testament to the enduring bonds of kinship and the resilience of the human spirit.

Ultimately, “I Had a Brother Once” is a narrative that resonates deeply with anyone who has experienced the profound loss of a sibling, offering solace in shared grief and the enduring promise of remembrance. I give it 3.5 out of 5 sobees.

The Sobees #QUITLIT Score: 3.5 out of 5

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