The Truth about Luck What I Learned on My Road Trip with Grandma
Selected for The Globe 100 Books in 2013. In The Truth about Luck, Iain Reid, author of the highly popular coming-of-age memoir One Bird's Choice, accompanies his grandmother on a five-day vacation -- which turns out to be a "staycation" at his basement apartment in Kingston. While the twenty-eight-year-old writer is at the beginning of his adult life, his ninety-two-year-old grandmother is nearing the end of hers. Between escorting his grandma to local attractions and restaurants, the two exchange memories and she begins to reveal details of her inspiring life story. Told with subtlety, humour, and heart, this delightful comic memoir reflects on family connections; how we experience adversity, the passage of time, and aging; and most importantly what it truly means to feel lucky.
Reviews
Jeannette Ordas@kickpleat
A 28 year old freelance writer decides to give his grandma the gift of time - a road trip from her home in Ottawa to his in Kingston, Ontario. There isn't much to do but talk and reminisce. It starts off slow and a bit rough. Reid is such a guy with an old car, a dirty house and a mattress on the floor instead of a bed. He's sweet to his grandma but for the first half of the book, he's just internally apologizing for his life. The second half of the book grandma talks and tells stories of her life, previous unknown to her grandson and that's where the life of this book lies. It's sweet, sincere and earnest but a little wobbly too.