Going Backwards
Average rating |
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5 out of 5
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Based on 2 Ratings and 2 Reviews |
Book Description
Charles feels as if he's the loser of the Goldberg family. He gets nowhere with girls-unlike his father, who was a real lady's man when he was sixteen. Charles isn't a brilliant pianist, like his little brother, Kaylo. He can't even connect with his mother, who either chides him for not being responsible enough, or treats him like a baby.
Now Charles has his grandmother, Gustel, to contend with, t...
MoreCharles feels as if he's the loser of the Goldberg family. He gets nowhere with girls-unlike his father, who was a real lady's man when he was sixteen. Charles isn't a brilliant pianist, like his little brother, Kaylo. He can't even connect with his mother, who either chides him for not being responsible enough, or treats him like a baby.
Now Charles has his grandmother, Gustel, to contend with, too. Charles can remember Gustel as she used to be when he visited her in Florida. She was a lively, dynamic woman who would challenge him to tennis games or look for shells with him. Now she has Alzheimer's disease. She walks around the halls of their apartment asking who she lives with; she frightens Kaylo at night; she insults Josie, the Goldberg's housekeeper.
Gustel is an embarrassment to Charles. She's making everything harder for him-school, friends, even liking himself. And she's making everyone in his family almost as crazy as she is.
"Never grow old," his father advises. "That's the answer." But it's too late for Gustel, and another answer must be found. What that answer finally is, and how it changes the Goldberg family, is something that will stay with Charles all his life-no matter how old he grows to be.
In this powerful and highly personal novel, Norma Klein writes with searing honesty about how it feels to grow up as those you love grow old.
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