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The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
Jonathan Evison has crafted a novel of the heart, a novel of unlikely heroes traveling through a grand American landscape, and most of all, a story that offers a profound look into what it takes to truly care for another person. Bursting with energy and filled with moments of absolute beauty, this bighearted and inspired novel ponders life’s terrible surprises as well as its immeasurable rewards.
278 pages, Hardcover
First published August 28, 2012
382 people are currently reading
14330 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Evison
16books1,171followersJonathan Evison is the New York Times Bestselling author of All About Lulu, West of Here, The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, This is Your Life, Harriet Chance!, and Lawn Boy.
In his teens, Evison was the founding member and frontman of the Seattle punk band March of Crimes, which included future members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden.
Born in San Jose, California, he now lives on an island in Western Washington.
In his teens, Evison was the founding member and frontman of the Seattle punk band March of Crimes, which included future members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden.
Born in San Jose, California, he now lives on an island in Western Washington.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,578 reviews
October 1, 2012
the secret to jonathan evison's success, i think, is that he's both emotionally courageous AND funny as hell, which is a rare and electrifying mix. i read this book straight through in one sitting and then i went out and ran around the block. (i don't run.)
May 26, 2017
Find all of my reviews at:
I read The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving in the olde times of 2013 back when my reviews consisted of sheer eloquence and brilliant observations like “it was guud.� Then I learned how to use Google and picture these sumbitches up to make up for my lack of writing skillz. Last year this became a NetFlix original movie which I watched while lying in bed like a fat slug when my family went out of town one weekend. A couple of months ago while trying to surmount the timeless first world problem of ”THERE’S NOTHING ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN� Iforced suggested we all give this a go as one big dysfunctional happy family. And guess what? Everyone loved it. Because I am always right . . . .
After reading the ARC of The Young Widower’s Handbook (play your cards right and you might luck out and get two reviews from me today), I couldn’t stop thinking about this one. I also am 100% addicted to the “Read to Reel� thing � even though I’ve already won my coffee mug . . . . .
(^^^It’s a Major Award!)
And I can’t stop reading (or re-reading as the case is here) books that became movies.
But enough of that, this is a BOOK SITE. WTF am I rambling about (luckily I never do that, right?)?
The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving is the story of Benjamin Benjamin (proving pornos aren’t the only books that are allowed to have idiotic character names). A superbadawful happened to Benjamin a while ago leaving him in a state of arrested development . . . .
With maxed-out credit cards and barely any cash left in his savings, Ben is forced to join the real world once again. He opts for a 28-hour class that will teach him how to be a caregiver and ends up assisting Trevor, a young man with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who is pretty much the perfect fit. Much like Ben, Trevor is content to exist rather than live. He goes to the movieplex for a matinee each Thursday and eats the same waffles each morning . . . .
The only perk in his life is mapping weird tourist traps he’ll never visit (like a double-decker outhouse or a Virgin Mary that appeared in a stump) while watching the Travel Channel . . . .
That is, until an opportunity presents itself and Trevor and Ben have a reason to travel to Salt Lake City. Picking up a stranger or two along the way . . . . .
Do you want to read this yet? If not, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!?!?!? Broken people and road trips?????? That’s like the best kind of story ever!
“Life’s a fucking class A bitch.�
The book is Ben’s story and the movie is more Trevor’s, so the tone is very different. If you want an excuse to kind of rest your head in the oven for a bit, read the book. If you want the lighter side of the story, opt for the movie . . . .
Or do the smart thing and experience both : )
Book #6 in the Winter Reading Challenge even though I already got the mug.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
Heartbreaking. Uplifting. Characters I want to find in real life to see what they are doing now. So good. Just read it. You won't be disappointed.
I read The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving in the olde times of 2013 back when my reviews consisted of sheer eloquence and brilliant observations like “it was guud.� Then I learned how to use Google and picture these sumbitches up to make up for my lack of writing skillz. Last year this became a NetFlix original movie which I watched while lying in bed like a fat slug when my family went out of town one weekend. A couple of months ago while trying to surmount the timeless first world problem of ”THERE’S NOTHING ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN� I
After reading the ARC of The Young Widower’s Handbook (play your cards right and you might luck out and get two reviews from me today), I couldn’t stop thinking about this one. I also am 100% addicted to the “Read to Reel� thing � even though I’ve already won my coffee mug . . . . .
(^^^It’s a Major Award!)
And I can’t stop reading (or re-reading as the case is here) books that became movies.
But enough of that, this is a BOOK SITE. WTF am I rambling about (luckily I never do that, right?)?
The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving is the story of Benjamin Benjamin (proving pornos aren’t the only books that are allowed to have idiotic character names). A superbadawful happened to Benjamin a while ago leaving him in a state of arrested development . . . .
With maxed-out credit cards and barely any cash left in his savings, Ben is forced to join the real world once again. He opts for a 28-hour class that will teach him how to be a caregiver and ends up assisting Trevor, a young man with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who is pretty much the perfect fit. Much like Ben, Trevor is content to exist rather than live. He goes to the movieplex for a matinee each Thursday and eats the same waffles each morning . . . .
The only perk in his life is mapping weird tourist traps he’ll never visit (like a double-decker outhouse or a Virgin Mary that appeared in a stump) while watching the Travel Channel . . . .
That is, until an opportunity presents itself and Trevor and Ben have a reason to travel to Salt Lake City. Picking up a stranger or two along the way . . . . .
Do you want to read this yet? If not, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!?!?!? Broken people and road trips?????? That’s like the best kind of story ever!
“Life’s a fucking class A bitch.�
The book is Ben’s story and the movie is more Trevor’s, so the tone is very different. If you want an excuse to kind of rest your head in the oven for a bit, read the book. If you want the lighter side of the story, opt for the movie . . . .
Or do the smart thing and experience both : )
Book #6 in the Winter Reading Challenge even though I already got the mug.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
Heartbreaking. Uplifting. Characters I want to find in real life to see what they are doing now. So good. Just read it. You won't be disappointed.
July 4, 2024
I’m a huge fan of books full of flawed characters who are working to redeem themselves. I’m a fan of the novels with quirky characters. And sometimes, it’s nice to have a book that’s easy to read with personnel journeys at the forefront. This book has all those attributes and more. This is the first book of Evison’s that I’ve read. I’ll read his others. It’s about a man, Benjamin, who decides to become a caretaker for no other reason than he needs a job and he has no marketable skills. He takes a course at a Church, becomes qualified and lands a job caring for a 19 year old boy with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. It’s written in first person from Benjamin’s point of view. The reader learns quickly that Ben is very skilled at care giving; yet Ben continues to have poor self-esteem. The reader learns that there was an “event� that occurred that shattered Ben’s life. Through flash backs, we learn he was a stay-at-home father of two children. Weaving the past with the present, Evison keeps the reader captivated, seeing how past circumstances effect Ben. Ben’s a lovable character who just seems to continuously mess up his life. As the story continues, Ben encounters others who are as quirky and odd as he. It’s a feel-good book with lovable characters.
March 12, 2015
Humor is such a delicate thing. Handled badly, it’s like those last tiny shards of potato chips at the bottom of the bag—pointless, greasy, annoying reminders that you should have quit while you were ahead. Humor done well is a bite into an ethereal croissant—a pleasure of taste and texture that is both rich and light—an uplifting of the senses. Of course, broad humor and slapstick comedy return us to the open-mouth, gasping hilarity of childhood, when we laughed so hard we farted, and that only made us laugh even more. Humor like that, as an adult, serves as a sort of catharsis, releasing us from the confines of our mind and learned propriety, into our innocent, animal selves.
Jonathan Evison has worked a kind of magic in The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, sprinkling fairy dust of helpless giggles into a story that is essentially a tragedy, offering this reader one of the most humane, tender, believable stories she has read since The World According to Garp, some thirty-five odd years ago.
Ben Benjamin, the narrator, is a pile of regret and sorrow. The brutal turning point of his life is revealed slowly, in short chapters of looking back, but we know that this former stay-at-home-dad is now childless, and his wife has been waiting for over a year for him to sign the divorce papers. In financial and moral dire straits, he takes a 28-hour training course to become a caregiver.
He is hired by Trev, a nineteen-year-old with Duchenne muscular dystrophy—a disease with a painful and early death sentence. Confined to a wheelchair, a prisoner of his twisted limbs, Trev is as horny, moody, and restless as any young man and the two make regular trips to the mall to ogle the girls and make terribly, hilariously inappropriate comments.
Ben, who must attend to Trev’s every need—cleaning, dressing, feeding, entertaining—has again put himself in the role of caregiver and he attempts to bury his past, for if Trev or his no-nonsense mother find out his story, he’d be out of a job he desperately needs. Yet, they know more than they let on. Caring for Trev eases the pain of both men, one trapped by his broken body, the other his broken mind.
While the principle storyline pulls at the heart, the subplots inject a bouncing energy that moves the characters along with wit and bumbling charm. Ben and Trev go on the ultimate buddy adventure: ROAD TRIP. Evison, whose novels always convey such a strong sense of place, takes the two from the Kitsap Peninsula southwest of Seattle, over the mountains to the arid scrabble of eastern Washington, into Montana and Yellowstone, and finally to their destination: Trev’s estranged dad’s place in Salt Lake City. Followed by a mysterious brown Skylark, Ben and Trev give a lift to a street-smart, liberally-pierced runaway, and a young couple just days from becoming parents for the first time. Mayhem accompanies them on the journey, but so does redemption and compassion. Road trips are taken to get out, to flee and escape—but this particular road trip serves to return Ben Benjamin to himself.
The short chapters, the first-person narrative, the moments of humor, both subtle and broad, and Evison’s pitch-perfect dialogue bring the reader into the immediacy of the story, but it is his characters that bring you into its heart. The portrayals are so real, without caricature or sentimentality� you know these people: you work with them, went to high school together, go through their line at the grocery store, look at them in the mirror while you brush your teeth.
Avoiding the literary cleverness and Big Ideas that are fashionable in postmodern American novels, Jonathan Evison delivers a clear-eyed but hopeful story of loss and love, parenting, and friendship. Read, and be redeemed.
Jonathan Evison has worked a kind of magic in The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, sprinkling fairy dust of helpless giggles into a story that is essentially a tragedy, offering this reader one of the most humane, tender, believable stories she has read since The World According to Garp, some thirty-five odd years ago.
Ben Benjamin, the narrator, is a pile of regret and sorrow. The brutal turning point of his life is revealed slowly, in short chapters of looking back, but we know that this former stay-at-home-dad is now childless, and his wife has been waiting for over a year for him to sign the divorce papers. In financial and moral dire straits, he takes a 28-hour training course to become a caregiver.
He is hired by Trev, a nineteen-year-old with Duchenne muscular dystrophy—a disease with a painful and early death sentence. Confined to a wheelchair, a prisoner of his twisted limbs, Trev is as horny, moody, and restless as any young man and the two make regular trips to the mall to ogle the girls and make terribly, hilariously inappropriate comments.
Ben, who must attend to Trev’s every need—cleaning, dressing, feeding, entertaining—has again put himself in the role of caregiver and he attempts to bury his past, for if Trev or his no-nonsense mother find out his story, he’d be out of a job he desperately needs. Yet, they know more than they let on. Caring for Trev eases the pain of both men, one trapped by his broken body, the other his broken mind.
While the principle storyline pulls at the heart, the subplots inject a bouncing energy that moves the characters along with wit and bumbling charm. Ben and Trev go on the ultimate buddy adventure: ROAD TRIP. Evison, whose novels always convey such a strong sense of place, takes the two from the Kitsap Peninsula southwest of Seattle, over the mountains to the arid scrabble of eastern Washington, into Montana and Yellowstone, and finally to their destination: Trev’s estranged dad’s place in Salt Lake City. Followed by a mysterious brown Skylark, Ben and Trev give a lift to a street-smart, liberally-pierced runaway, and a young couple just days from becoming parents for the first time. Mayhem accompanies them on the journey, but so does redemption and compassion. Road trips are taken to get out, to flee and escape—but this particular road trip serves to return Ben Benjamin to himself.
The short chapters, the first-person narrative, the moments of humor, both subtle and broad, and Evison’s pitch-perfect dialogue bring the reader into the immediacy of the story, but it is his characters that bring you into its heart. The portrayals are so real, without caricature or sentimentality� you know these people: you work with them, went to high school together, go through their line at the grocery store, look at them in the mirror while you brush your teeth.
Avoiding the literary cleverness and Big Ideas that are fashionable in postmodern American novels, Jonathan Evison delivers a clear-eyed but hopeful story of loss and love, parenting, and friendship. Read, and be redeemed.
October 21, 2012
Thank you, thank you, Robin Beerbower for shouting out this title at the 4th Annual Librarian Shout 'n Share at Bookexpo 2012. I knew the minute I heard Robin pitch The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison that I had to read this book. Robin's shout out was back in June and considering several other GoodReads friends rated it highly,what took me so long? I really don't know but don't make my mistake. Read this book!
Having read Evison's West of Here and liking it, I'm not certain I was quite prepared for The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving. I'm thinking more of the same but there is no comparison between the two other than plain good writing. It is heartening when an author can take a different direction and just get it right. If I could give The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving 10 stars I would. It's not always easy to explain why a book makes my best list but suffice it to say this one just did. I loved it.
Easy premise. Ben Benjamin has lost it all though early on you are not quite certain how or why. All you know is that he's down to his last bucks, takes a course as a caregiver and is interviewing for a job. Little does he know this client, Trev, 19 year old, suffering from muscular dystrophy, and also one royal pain in the you know what, will change his life. The relationship that develops between these two mismatched souls is something to read. Their constant banter, all I can think is guy speak, made me laugh, but I also kept the tissues nearby as there's serious stuff going on here too. These two guys, both searching for something, eventually set out on one heck of an American road trip. There are other characters of course, and all are brought vividly to life by Evison's expertise.
The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving is a story I won't soon forget and one I'll recommend to many. Excellent!
Having read Evison's West of Here and liking it, I'm not certain I was quite prepared for The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving. I'm thinking more of the same but there is no comparison between the two other than plain good writing. It is heartening when an author can take a different direction and just get it right. If I could give The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving 10 stars I would. It's not always easy to explain why a book makes my best list but suffice it to say this one just did. I loved it.
Easy premise. Ben Benjamin has lost it all though early on you are not quite certain how or why. All you know is that he's down to his last bucks, takes a course as a caregiver and is interviewing for a job. Little does he know this client, Trev, 19 year old, suffering from muscular dystrophy, and also one royal pain in the you know what, will change his life. The relationship that develops between these two mismatched souls is something to read. Their constant banter, all I can think is guy speak, made me laugh, but I also kept the tissues nearby as there's serious stuff going on here too. These two guys, both searching for something, eventually set out on one heck of an American road trip. There are other characters of course, and all are brought vividly to life by Evison's expertise.
The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving is a story I won't soon forget and one I'll recommend to many. Excellent!
October 21, 2016
I'm about 1/3 of the way through, and I think that's enough. I hate the way the protagonist sees and talks about other people and his environment; it's making me feel bad about myself and the world. Also, I have zero interest in seeing what happens.
There are other, more inspiring books out there for me to read.
Update: On further thought, I suspect that a large part of what turned me off of the book is the way the characters talk about women's bodies. It makes me angry and hits all my buttons about consent and privacy and violation.
Case in point: There are a couple lines about Rachael Ray's body that turned my stomach. If I were Rachael Ray and read that bit, I would feel horribly uncomfortable. And it upsets me that women have to deal with this shit if they do something as innocuous as choosing to be a public figure.
And the fact that "Revised Fundamentals" is fictional doesn't invalidate this kind of criticism. If I never had to read a phrase like "idle speculation as to the size of Rachael Ray's taco" again, I would consider it a +1 for American culture.
I hear about enough of this shit in real life; when it shows up in my fiction, too, I'll exercise my right to metaphorically throw it in the garbage.
There are other, more inspiring books out there for me to read.
Update: On further thought, I suspect that a large part of what turned me off of the book is the way the characters talk about women's bodies. It makes me angry and hits all my buttons about consent and privacy and violation.
Case in point: There are a couple lines about Rachael Ray's body that turned my stomach. If I were Rachael Ray and read that bit, I would feel horribly uncomfortable. And it upsets me that women have to deal with this shit if they do something as innocuous as choosing to be a public figure.
And the fact that "Revised Fundamentals" is fictional doesn't invalidate this kind of criticism. If I never had to read a phrase like "idle speculation as to the size of Rachael Ray's taco" again, I would consider it a +1 for American culture.
I hear about enough of this shit in real life; when it shows up in my fiction, too, I'll exercise my right to metaphorically throw it in the garbage.
January 31, 2016
I would put this book in a catagory I call quirky characters/feel good stories (which is a good thing). This is the story of Benjamin Benjamin (yep) who has suffered a great tragedy, after which he takes a course to become a licensed caregiver. He gets a job care-giving for Trevor who is a typical teenage boy except for his diagnosis of muscular dystrophy. Eventually they take an adventurous road trip and meet some wonderful characters. I really enjoyed this heartwarming story. It was just what I needed after my last read which was heart wrenching.
November 7, 2013
The book starts off with Benjamin Benjamin (yes that's his name) taking a class on care-giving because he is living off his credit card and just taking a break from life. Ben takes a job sitting with Trev a young adult with MD. Trev has routines. He watches weather channel, eats flax seed waffles, doesn't go out much. I fell head over heels for both these characters. They are funny, strong men.
I hate giving away a lot of details in books but this one includes a road trip that changes both these guys. Not in bad ways because while flawed they both were awesome to start out.
Just take my word for it. Go get it. Read it.
I hate giving away a lot of details in books but this one includes a road trip that changes both these guys. Not in bad ways because while flawed they both were awesome to start out.
Just take my word for it. Go get it. Read it.
April 13, 2015
Simple -sweet- funny- irresistible warmth - sad....
This story kicks it up a notch when Benjamin and Trevor take a road trip. They take off to visit Trevor's dad who has been an absentee father most of his life. The hitchhikers they meet on the road are quirky & odd ....adding just the right mix of hilarity and irrepressible characters.
For Benjamin and Trevor -- its an ongoing honest and sometimes painful examination of who they are --Who they are in the world and what they contribute to each other.
Wonderful storytelling-with terrific insights!
Complex-heartloving-characters
I sure could see this book as a movie!
This story kicks it up a notch when Benjamin and Trevor take a road trip. They take off to visit Trevor's dad who has been an absentee father most of his life. The hitchhikers they meet on the road are quirky & odd ....adding just the right mix of hilarity and irrepressible characters.
For Benjamin and Trevor -- its an ongoing honest and sometimes painful examination of who they are --Who they are in the world and what they contribute to each other.
Wonderful storytelling-with terrific insights!
Complex-heartloving-characters
I sure could see this book as a movie!
February 27, 2013
This is the kind of book I savor: spectacularly descriptive, literary writing; flawed but likeable main character in need of redemption; a story of internal growth; and a cast of truly unique supporting characters. And because I have a soft spot for geology, I found the landscape descriptions completely delicious and filling. I confess: I didn’t want this book to end!
The voice of the main character, Ben Benjamin, swept me away from the start. Something horrible happened to his young family, causing him to lose nearly everything � and I HAD to continue reading to find out just what those circumstances were. In much the same way, I felt compelled to learn as much as I could about Trev, the young man suffering muscular dystrophy, in Ben’s care. When they begin their ‘adventure�, more poor choices (and some hilarity) ensue. Yes, I had to keep reading.
While this novel was a serious study of the complexity of parent and child relationships, as well as a story of forgiveness � and at its core quite sad � I can’t count the number of laugh-out-loud moments I experienced. Ben and Trev’s clever naming conventions for various extracurricular activities with the opposite sex had me rolling, as did so many of the creative word choices selected by the author. Trevor's sense of humor was brilliantly cast through his frequent one-liners. Another added touch: the duo’s preoccupation with various ridiculous roadside attractions across the US, including double-decker outhouses.
As Ben continues to make poor choices, digging himself a deeper and deeper hole � much like “the world’s largest pit� � the reader can’t help but root for him along the way. This is a story about telling the truth, the consequences it brings, and moving on.
This author is talented, with such a command of the English language � using “the� right words to convey vivid scenes and emotions, all while avoiding overly sentimental conventions. I will definitely be going back to his previous works and consuming them with the same voracious appetite. Highly recommended for folks who appreciate character-driven, emotional literary fiction.
The voice of the main character, Ben Benjamin, swept me away from the start. Something horrible happened to his young family, causing him to lose nearly everything � and I HAD to continue reading to find out just what those circumstances were. In much the same way, I felt compelled to learn as much as I could about Trev, the young man suffering muscular dystrophy, in Ben’s care. When they begin their ‘adventure�, more poor choices (and some hilarity) ensue. Yes, I had to keep reading.
While this novel was a serious study of the complexity of parent and child relationships, as well as a story of forgiveness � and at its core quite sad � I can’t count the number of laugh-out-loud moments I experienced. Ben and Trev’s clever naming conventions for various extracurricular activities with the opposite sex had me rolling, as did so many of the creative word choices selected by the author. Trevor's sense of humor was brilliantly cast through his frequent one-liners. Another added touch: the duo’s preoccupation with various ridiculous roadside attractions across the US, including double-decker outhouses.
As Ben continues to make poor choices, digging himself a deeper and deeper hole � much like “the world’s largest pit� � the reader can’t help but root for him along the way. This is a story about telling the truth, the consequences it brings, and moving on.
This author is talented, with such a command of the English language � using “the� right words to convey vivid scenes and emotions, all while avoiding overly sentimental conventions. I will definitely be going back to his previous works and consuming them with the same voracious appetite. Highly recommended for folks who appreciate character-driven, emotional literary fiction.
September 5, 2012
Jonathan Evison has been on my radar ever since I saw All About Lulu in bookstores, but I just hadn't gotten around yet to reading any of his novels. After reading the Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, though, I'll be sure to catch up with what I've been missing by reading Lulu and West of Here. Revised Fundamentals provides everything I look for in a novel - a fully fleshed out protagonist caught up in something that the author explores in both a serious and comic vein, a supporting cast of fully rounded out characters, and a writing style that lets you know you're in the hands of an author who knows how to turn a sentence and a story.
In many blurbs and reviews, Revised Fundamentals is discussed as a road novel, but the road aspects of the novel don't kick in until about halfway through. The first half of the book explores the relationship between the central character, Benjamin Benjamin, and the young man, Trev, with muscular dystrophy that he is hired to take care of. In alternating chapters we also get flashbacks to the great horror of Benjamin's life - the accidental death of his two young children, which he feels partly to blame for. There's a slow reveal of what actually happened, though you can guess early on. When you do finally get the full story, it's devastating.
To lighten that serious stuff, the author provides plenty of comic relief. It's been several years since the tragic accident, and Benjamin's wife has moved on with her life. Like most couples who experience the death of a child, they've separated and his wife has found a new man. She wants Benjamin to sign the divorce papers, and when he refuses to do so, she sics a process server on him. Benjamin's attempts to elude the server, while also dealing with a crazy neighbor in his apartment building who thinks he's feeding chocolate to her cat and killing one of her plants by dropping cigarette butts in its pot (he doesn't smoke) is very funny.
The relationship with his patient, Trev, is also terrific. Because of his illness, Trev has led a very limited life - he spends most of his days watching the weather channel, and under the watchful eye of the boy's overprotective mother, Benjamin becomes Trev's first real guy friend as they trade bawdy, sophomoric jokes about what they'd like to do to the various female weather ladies. One of their ways of bonding is to plot out oddball tourist attractions - like's the world's deepest pit - on a map.
After Trev's father, who abandoned the family when Trev was a baby, comes on the scene, the only one ready to give him any slack is Benjamin. The father, Bob, pays a fruitless visit to try to make amends to his family, but when he's turned away by his ex-wife and son, he decides to visit all the attractions his son has been mapping. But when Bob, who's comically inept at everything he does, gets into a car accident that leaves him in a leg cast, Benjamin and Trev decide to take a road trip to visit him.
The road trip is fun and full of misadventures, as Benjamin and Trev pick up an oddball cast of characters along the away - including a cute runaway Trev's age, and a young pregnant woman with an ex-con boyfriend , who's convinced he's going to strike it rich with an invention that everyone but him and his girlfriend realize is patently ridiculous.
Both storylines - the road trip and Benjamin's attempts to deal with his tragic past - come to a terrific climax that leaves you feeling the hours you spent reading about Benjamin and Trev's journeys was time very well spent.
In many blurbs and reviews, Revised Fundamentals is discussed as a road novel, but the road aspects of the novel don't kick in until about halfway through. The first half of the book explores the relationship between the central character, Benjamin Benjamin, and the young man, Trev, with muscular dystrophy that he is hired to take care of. In alternating chapters we also get flashbacks to the great horror of Benjamin's life - the accidental death of his two young children, which he feels partly to blame for. There's a slow reveal of what actually happened, though you can guess early on. When you do finally get the full story, it's devastating.
To lighten that serious stuff, the author provides plenty of comic relief. It's been several years since the tragic accident, and Benjamin's wife has moved on with her life. Like most couples who experience the death of a child, they've separated and his wife has found a new man. She wants Benjamin to sign the divorce papers, and when he refuses to do so, she sics a process server on him. Benjamin's attempts to elude the server, while also dealing with a crazy neighbor in his apartment building who thinks he's feeding chocolate to her cat and killing one of her plants by dropping cigarette butts in its pot (he doesn't smoke) is very funny.
The relationship with his patient, Trev, is also terrific. Because of his illness, Trev has led a very limited life - he spends most of his days watching the weather channel, and under the watchful eye of the boy's overprotective mother, Benjamin becomes Trev's first real guy friend as they trade bawdy, sophomoric jokes about what they'd like to do to the various female weather ladies. One of their ways of bonding is to plot out oddball tourist attractions - like's the world's deepest pit - on a map.
After Trev's father, who abandoned the family when Trev was a baby, comes on the scene, the only one ready to give him any slack is Benjamin. The father, Bob, pays a fruitless visit to try to make amends to his family, but when he's turned away by his ex-wife and son, he decides to visit all the attractions his son has been mapping. But when Bob, who's comically inept at everything he does, gets into a car accident that leaves him in a leg cast, Benjamin and Trev decide to take a road trip to visit him.
The road trip is fun and full of misadventures, as Benjamin and Trev pick up an oddball cast of characters along the away - including a cute runaway Trev's age, and a young pregnant woman with an ex-con boyfriend , who's convinced he's going to strike it rich with an invention that everyone but him and his girlfriend realize is patently ridiculous.
Both storylines - the road trip and Benjamin's attempts to deal with his tragic past - come to a terrific climax that leaves you feeling the hours you spent reading about Benjamin and Trev's journeys was time very well spent.
August 25, 2012
from BEA - signed by author
Read 8/14/12 - 8/20/12
5 Stars - Highly Recommended / The Next Best Book for ALL THE REASONS
Pgs: 276
Publisher: Algonquin
Release Date: August 28, 2012
Can I just say "Fucking Awesome! Go Buy It" and call it a day? Do you really need me to go into all the reasons why I want you to experience Jonathan Evison's The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving for yourself? Because I will. Oh, you can bet I will.
For starters, it features some of the coolest man-speak I have ever come across in literary fiction. Hell, in ANY fiction: "Turd-Cutters", "Gorilla Masks", "German Knuckle Cakes", "Moroccan Meatballs", and Disappearing Pandas", just to name a FEW. Never mind the fact that I have no clue what those all mean. And please don't take that as an invitation to leave a comment and tell me, because I had too much fun imagining them for myself, and knowing what they really mean (or worse, that they don't really exist) would crush my already-fragile soul. You don't want to be responsible for crushing my soul, do you?!
And second, Jonathan Evison knows relationships. Wait, let me rephrase that. Jonathan Evison knows dysfunction and specializes in making it parade itself around as a relationship. In TRFoC, we have what should be a cry-fest of a novel from the moment you crack the cover to the snot-covered fingering of the final pages. But does Evison take the easy way out and write sappy, heart broken, woe-is-me characters that would feel at home in the middle of a Lifetime Movie set? Oh hell no! He takes the things that should have left them broken and beaten and, instead, he gives them the strength to deal with their individual grief and tragedies as a group through huge heaps of laughter and sarcasm. He knows how to manage his characters through awkward and sometimes humiliating circumstances without making us bat an eye. And he makes it all seem so natural, so possible, so... familiar. He brings the characters to you and places each one of them inside your heart where you will carry them around with you wherever you go. You will want to protect them all, from anything that might cause them pain or sadness.
Which leads to the third: Evison's novel is such a great demonstration of human resilience. Whether it's Ben learning to forgive himself for the death of his children, or Trev finding the courage to overcome his body's crippling limitations to kiss a girl for the first time, TRFoC dissects what it's like to simply be. To step outside of your routine. To plan and pack and check and double check and then how to just give in when the plans give out. To remove the safety net and suddenly realize that you never really needed it to begin with.
In conclusion, (and here's the big sell...) it's a road trip story. It's a coming-into-your-own story. It's a you-can-never-be-prepared-for-whats-just-around-the-corner story. It's a taking-the-rulebook-and-throwing-it-out-the-fucking-window-at-sixty-miles-an-hour story. It's a it-might-not-be-a-bad-idea-to-have-a-tissue-laying-around-somewhere-within-reach-but-I-swear-it's-not-an-ugly-cry story. And yes, it's a I've-got-to-tell-everyone-I-know-to-run-out-and-read-this-book-right-now story.
Let me leave you with this: If my review didn't just seal the deal, this adorable book trailer MOST DEFINITELY will!!
Read 8/14/12 - 8/20/12
5 Stars - Highly Recommended / The Next Best Book for ALL THE REASONS
Pgs: 276
Publisher: Algonquin
Release Date: August 28, 2012
Can I just say "Fucking Awesome! Go Buy It" and call it a day? Do you really need me to go into all the reasons why I want you to experience Jonathan Evison's The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving for yourself? Because I will. Oh, you can bet I will.
For starters, it features some of the coolest man-speak I have ever come across in literary fiction. Hell, in ANY fiction: "Turd-Cutters", "Gorilla Masks", "German Knuckle Cakes", "Moroccan Meatballs", and Disappearing Pandas", just to name a FEW. Never mind the fact that I have no clue what those all mean. And please don't take that as an invitation to leave a comment and tell me, because I had too much fun imagining them for myself, and knowing what they really mean (or worse, that they don't really exist) would crush my already-fragile soul. You don't want to be responsible for crushing my soul, do you?!
And second, Jonathan Evison knows relationships. Wait, let me rephrase that. Jonathan Evison knows dysfunction and specializes in making it parade itself around as a relationship. In TRFoC, we have what should be a cry-fest of a novel from the moment you crack the cover to the snot-covered fingering of the final pages. But does Evison take the easy way out and write sappy, heart broken, woe-is-me characters that would feel at home in the middle of a Lifetime Movie set? Oh hell no! He takes the things that should have left them broken and beaten and, instead, he gives them the strength to deal with their individual grief and tragedies as a group through huge heaps of laughter and sarcasm. He knows how to manage his characters through awkward and sometimes humiliating circumstances without making us bat an eye. And he makes it all seem so natural, so possible, so... familiar. He brings the characters to you and places each one of them inside your heart where you will carry them around with you wherever you go. You will want to protect them all, from anything that might cause them pain or sadness.
Which leads to the third: Evison's novel is such a great demonstration of human resilience. Whether it's Ben learning to forgive himself for the death of his children, or Trev finding the courage to overcome his body's crippling limitations to kiss a girl for the first time, TRFoC dissects what it's like to simply be. To step outside of your routine. To plan and pack and check and double check and then how to just give in when the plans give out. To remove the safety net and suddenly realize that you never really needed it to begin with.
In conclusion, (and here's the big sell...) it's a road trip story. It's a coming-into-your-own story. It's a you-can-never-be-prepared-for-whats-just-around-the-corner story. It's a taking-the-rulebook-and-throwing-it-out-the-fucking-window-at-sixty-miles-an-hour story. It's a it-might-not-be-a-bad-idea-to-have-a-tissue-laying-around-somewhere-within-reach-but-I-swear-it's-not-an-ugly-cry story. And yes, it's a I've-got-to-tell-everyone-I-know-to-run-out-and-read-this-book-right-now story.
Let me leave you with this: If my review didn't just seal the deal, this adorable book trailer MOST DEFINITELY will!!
May 31, 2016
(3.5) The tone � outright witty yet earnestly heartfelt � has a lot in common with novels by Jonathan Tropper and Nick Hornby. The road trip element, and Dot especially, also reminded me of
Mosquitoland
by David Arnold. This is about the different ways we care for each other and try to express our affection with varying degrees of success, all while disaster lurks around the corner. My favorite character was accident-prone Bob; I especially liked a description of him looking at a map as “like a golden retriever confronting a quadratic equation.�
Other favorite lines:
“Katya’s eyes are as big and dark as avocados. You could hide a Cuisinart in her voluminous hair.�
“Failure makes me hungry. It’s a wonder I’m not three hundred pounds.�
Other favorite lines:
“Katya’s eyes are as big and dark as avocados. You could hide a Cuisinart in her voluminous hair.�
“Failure makes me hungry. It’s a wonder I’m not three hundred pounds.�
August 31, 2015
I know I am late to the party, but what a heartwarming, sweet story.
I'll try to come back with some thoughts later...
A really wonderful book though, full of heart!
September 14, 2012
Does anyone today write with more heart than Jonathan Evison?
Ignore the critics who stupidly focus on the teenage boy elements of the novel. Yes, they are present, but they are not the focus of this novel. The comments, banter, and trash talking lend credibility to two very insecure and broken characters. The subtext of those comments reveals that the comments made about women are just guys being guys (one-upmanship), revealing insecurities, overcompensating, and are not who Trev or Ben truly are.
At the heart of this novel are characters who are twisted and broken. These are characters who know that life can change at any moment. The good things that make life worth living can be snuffed out without notice because life is fickle. Relationships that have never worked can be fixed because everyone is capable of change. The latter is a theme that runs through all of Evison's novels; people can and do change. Life's fickle nature can inflict disease upon innocent people. It can destroy families in an instant and rip lives apart. The only weapon we have against the forces over which we have no control is to change and become more and better than what we have been . . . or at least to find a new way to help us cope.
The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving takes you for a ride with crazy characters, deep brokenness, just as much humor, and a hell of a lot of heart.
Ignore the critics who stupidly focus on the teenage boy elements of the novel. Yes, they are present, but they are not the focus of this novel. The comments, banter, and trash talking lend credibility to two very insecure and broken characters. The subtext of those comments reveals that the comments made about women are just guys being guys (one-upmanship), revealing insecurities, overcompensating, and are not who Trev or Ben truly are.
At the heart of this novel are characters who are twisted and broken. These are characters who know that life can change at any moment. The good things that make life worth living can be snuffed out without notice because life is fickle. Relationships that have never worked can be fixed because everyone is capable of change. The latter is a theme that runs through all of Evison's novels; people can and do change. Life's fickle nature can inflict disease upon innocent people. It can destroy families in an instant and rip lives apart. The only weapon we have against the forces over which we have no control is to change and become more and better than what we have been . . . or at least to find a new way to help us cope.
The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving takes you for a ride with crazy characters, deep brokenness, just as much humor, and a hell of a lot of heart.
November 20, 2012
Get in the Car
Our guy is a loser. No he’s not but Benjamin Benjamin is definitely at a low ebb in his life. After a family tragedy he and his much loved wife break up. He’s been Mr. Mom and hasn’t been in the job market so when it comes time for him to find a job he hurriedly takes a course in home health care which leads him to a job caring for 19 year old Trevor who’s suffering from muscular dystrophy. Ben actually does quite well with his care giving duties. Ben also bonds well with Trevor though he’s still lost in a depression he can’t crawl out of.
This all sounds maudlin right? It’s not; in fact “The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving� is emotionally frank. There’s a kind of purity to the way the characters interact, a distinct lack of pathos. They need one another but manage not to cling or become grasping…except maybe for Ben’s feelings towards his ex and even there he can be forgiven because they both seem to want to stay connected. It’s complicated. There’s also an effervescent road trip that will leave you in tears even while you’re laughing. Evison’s humor is always in evidence and though tinged with irony it’s never biting. This little book took me by shock at how good it was and also how true it felt.
This reviewed is based on a book supplied by the publisher.
Our guy is a loser. No he’s not but Benjamin Benjamin is definitely at a low ebb in his life. After a family tragedy he and his much loved wife break up. He’s been Mr. Mom and hasn’t been in the job market so when it comes time for him to find a job he hurriedly takes a course in home health care which leads him to a job caring for 19 year old Trevor who’s suffering from muscular dystrophy. Ben actually does quite well with his care giving duties. Ben also bonds well with Trevor though he’s still lost in a depression he can’t crawl out of.
This all sounds maudlin right? It’s not; in fact “The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving� is emotionally frank. There’s a kind of purity to the way the characters interact, a distinct lack of pathos. They need one another but manage not to cling or become grasping…except maybe for Ben’s feelings towards his ex and even there he can be forgiven because they both seem to want to stay connected. It’s complicated. There’s also an effervescent road trip that will leave you in tears even while you’re laughing. Evison’s humor is always in evidence and though tinged with irony it’s never biting. This little book took me by shock at how good it was and also how true it felt.
This reviewed is based on a book supplied by the publisher.
April 19, 2015
AWFUL. JUST AWFUL. Quit at 71%. Supposed to be be funny? No. Most disgusting main character ever. Can't handle it any more. I said I was going to power through but I'm DONE wasting my time. DONE!
November 23, 2013
Jonathan Evison’s new novel, “The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving,� sounds like it’s about as much fun as cleaning a catheter. And that long, textbooklike title � an actual 28-hour course required for people who work in adult family homes in Washington state � is just the book’s first turnoff. The plot involves a young man wasting away from muscular dystrophy. The narrator is bankrupt, depressed and being sued for divorce. His two dead children hover in the background.
I ate it up.
More than 20 years ago, when my first daughter was born with cerebral palsy, my wife and I were plunged into that netherworld of home health care. I’ve since learned that there are lots of us. Tens of millions of us, actually, somehow holding down full-time jobs and cobbling together what looks like a normal life. We rely, precariously, on personal care aides, the fastest-growing occupation over the next decade, according to the Labor Department. They’re usually poor, female and, in my experience, recent immigrants, making less than fast-food workers. The good ones adored our daughter, read her books and enjoyed singing to her. The bad ones stood on the patio smoking cigarettes and talking on the cellphone until it was time to leave.
Evison’s bittersweet novel is about one of the good ones: no Florence Nightingale, just a witty, brokenhearted man who needs a job. He’s not perfect, and neither is this novel, but it’s moving and funny, and, my God, how refreshing it is to read a story about someone caring for a disabled person that isn’t gauzed in sentimentality or bitterness. Among his several odd jobs, Evison once worked as a personal care attendant himself, and this novel is dedicated to one of his clients. The experience seems to have taught him just what true caregiving is all about, and that insight along with his plaintive sense of humor had me alternately chuckling and wiping my eyes through much of his book.
The hapless narrator of “Revised Fundamentals� is Ben Benjamin, who’s just emerged from 18 months of blinding grief. His wife has left him, and his house has been repossessed. “Immobility is slowly draining the life out of me,� he says, “like a car left to sit in the driveway too long.� At 39, he knows he’s not qualified to do much. He’s sold muffins, worked at a bookstore, painted parade floats. “I’m just pathetic,� he says at the start of what I worried would be another whiny-man novel.
“What led you to caregiving?� a potential client asks him.
“I’m a caring person,� he says. “I understand people’s needs.�
“Why do you wanna work for nine bucks an hour?�
“I’m broke.�
Despite that candor, Ben gets a job caring for 19-year-old Trev, who uses a wheelchair and lives with his mom. The young man is twisted and shrunken by the effects of MD (�103 pounds at his last checkup�), but Ben sees “a pretzel with a perfectly healthy imagination.� Warily, the two men strike up a friendship within the narrow confines of Trev’s abilities. They watch a lot of the Weather Channel and rate the weather girls� breasts. They plot wacky roadside attractions on a giant map of the United States (the Spam Museum, the Two Story Outhouse, etc.). And much of their time is taken up with the arduous demands of caring for someone who can’t shower or use the bathroom by himself. The work is dull, embarrassing, icky. This is a kind of intimacy most people don’t see much of in life � or fiction. (There’s also some macabre caregiver humor here that only we caregivers will get.)
But Ben doesn’t focus on the latex gloves and plastic vessels, and soon neither do we. He’s caught up in the larger problem of being: How will he live in the shadow of his own unspeakable loss and move beyond “the bitter spoils of self-pity�? And how will he encourage a young man whose short future stretches toward the horrors of a degenerative disease?
Fortunately, Evison isn’t willing to cheat on these problems: Trev isn’t cured by the end; unlike Job, Ben doesn’t get a new, better family. But the novel does resort to a road trip that rolls the story in the direction of an indie-film cliche. And there are madcap chases and buffoonish arguments that seem to have waddled in wearing clown shoes from a much cornier novel. Although the winding trek to Salt Lake City in an old van gives the story some changing scenery and quirky new characters (Ellen Page, call your agent), it obscures the gently handled relationship that Ben and Trev had established in his home.
Still, this is a far more focused plot than Evison presented in his previous novel, “West of Here,� an entertaining but hysterically overpopulated story about the development of Washington’s Pacific coast. Here, the cast is manageable and dominated by desperate men who have “made a hopeless mess out of fatherhood.� They’ve all failed their children in disastrous ways, none more so than Ben. As he and Trev and their growing ragbag of passengers drive around the Northwest, we get flashbacks to Ben’s life with his son and daughter, “the blessed disorder� of parenting with all the dirt and sugar and sweat that involves. Overshadowed by their deaths, these quirky scenes have an even more wrenching charm. For many chapters we don’t know exactly what happened to his kids, but Ben keeps torturing himself with recriminations. The outlines of that unspeakable moment grow sharper and sharper until the brief description toward the end is so fraught with dread and agony that it’s difficult to read.
There’s a risk, of course, in trying to situate an event of such tragic magnitude in a novel that includes scenes of broad comedy and snarky wit. Anne Tyler kept her emotional range far more controlled in “The Accidental Tourist,� a masterpiece of parental grief that makes “The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving� look like a jalopy in comparison. But Evison has such scruffy charm that, as his story bounces along, it’s easy to forgive him the rough spots.
I ate it up.
More than 20 years ago, when my first daughter was born with cerebral palsy, my wife and I were plunged into that netherworld of home health care. I’ve since learned that there are lots of us. Tens of millions of us, actually, somehow holding down full-time jobs and cobbling together what looks like a normal life. We rely, precariously, on personal care aides, the fastest-growing occupation over the next decade, according to the Labor Department. They’re usually poor, female and, in my experience, recent immigrants, making less than fast-food workers. The good ones adored our daughter, read her books and enjoyed singing to her. The bad ones stood on the patio smoking cigarettes and talking on the cellphone until it was time to leave.
Evison’s bittersweet novel is about one of the good ones: no Florence Nightingale, just a witty, brokenhearted man who needs a job. He’s not perfect, and neither is this novel, but it’s moving and funny, and, my God, how refreshing it is to read a story about someone caring for a disabled person that isn’t gauzed in sentimentality or bitterness. Among his several odd jobs, Evison once worked as a personal care attendant himself, and this novel is dedicated to one of his clients. The experience seems to have taught him just what true caregiving is all about, and that insight along with his plaintive sense of humor had me alternately chuckling and wiping my eyes through much of his book.
The hapless narrator of “Revised Fundamentals� is Ben Benjamin, who’s just emerged from 18 months of blinding grief. His wife has left him, and his house has been repossessed. “Immobility is slowly draining the life out of me,� he says, “like a car left to sit in the driveway too long.� At 39, he knows he’s not qualified to do much. He’s sold muffins, worked at a bookstore, painted parade floats. “I’m just pathetic,� he says at the start of what I worried would be another whiny-man novel.
“What led you to caregiving?� a potential client asks him.
“I’m a caring person,� he says. “I understand people’s needs.�
“Why do you wanna work for nine bucks an hour?�
“I’m broke.�
Despite that candor, Ben gets a job caring for 19-year-old Trev, who uses a wheelchair and lives with his mom. The young man is twisted and shrunken by the effects of MD (�103 pounds at his last checkup�), but Ben sees “a pretzel with a perfectly healthy imagination.� Warily, the two men strike up a friendship within the narrow confines of Trev’s abilities. They watch a lot of the Weather Channel and rate the weather girls� breasts. They plot wacky roadside attractions on a giant map of the United States (the Spam Museum, the Two Story Outhouse, etc.). And much of their time is taken up with the arduous demands of caring for someone who can’t shower or use the bathroom by himself. The work is dull, embarrassing, icky. This is a kind of intimacy most people don’t see much of in life � or fiction. (There’s also some macabre caregiver humor here that only we caregivers will get.)
But Ben doesn’t focus on the latex gloves and plastic vessels, and soon neither do we. He’s caught up in the larger problem of being: How will he live in the shadow of his own unspeakable loss and move beyond “the bitter spoils of self-pity�? And how will he encourage a young man whose short future stretches toward the horrors of a degenerative disease?
Fortunately, Evison isn’t willing to cheat on these problems: Trev isn’t cured by the end; unlike Job, Ben doesn’t get a new, better family. But the novel does resort to a road trip that rolls the story in the direction of an indie-film cliche. And there are madcap chases and buffoonish arguments that seem to have waddled in wearing clown shoes from a much cornier novel. Although the winding trek to Salt Lake City in an old van gives the story some changing scenery and quirky new characters (Ellen Page, call your agent), it obscures the gently handled relationship that Ben and Trev had established in his home.
Still, this is a far more focused plot than Evison presented in his previous novel, “West of Here,� an entertaining but hysterically overpopulated story about the development of Washington’s Pacific coast. Here, the cast is manageable and dominated by desperate men who have “made a hopeless mess out of fatherhood.� They’ve all failed their children in disastrous ways, none more so than Ben. As he and Trev and their growing ragbag of passengers drive around the Northwest, we get flashbacks to Ben’s life with his son and daughter, “the blessed disorder� of parenting with all the dirt and sugar and sweat that involves. Overshadowed by their deaths, these quirky scenes have an even more wrenching charm. For many chapters we don’t know exactly what happened to his kids, but Ben keeps torturing himself with recriminations. The outlines of that unspeakable moment grow sharper and sharper until the brief description toward the end is so fraught with dread and agony that it’s difficult to read.
There’s a risk, of course, in trying to situate an event of such tragic magnitude in a novel that includes scenes of broad comedy and snarky wit. Anne Tyler kept her emotional range far more controlled in “The Accidental Tourist,� a masterpiece of parental grief that makes “The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving� look like a jalopy in comparison. But Evison has such scruffy charm that, as his story bounces along, it’s easy to forgive him the rough spots.
September 18, 2012
I am feeling terribly cranky with my reading of late. Well, first I have to remind myself that 3-stars is not "bad," but still I do not usually get through more than a handful of books without being at least a little wow'd by one of them. I was recently a bit disappointed with the latest Jonathan Tropper book (One Last Thing Before I Go), but as I started The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving I thought that perhaps *this* was the Tropper book I had been hoping for. It is my Jonathan Evison book, but there seemed to be all the hallmarks of Tropper: mid-life crisis, witty, poignant, laughter through tears.
And while I won't say that I was not emotionally touched by this book, I have to say I felt manipulated. The main character, Benjamin Benjamin (okay, that's another sore thumb), is washed-up in middle-age having never fully recovered from a horrific life event - "the disaster" - who tries to pick up the pieces of his life by becoming a caretaker to a 16-year old with muscular dystrophy. So, if that doesn't pull at your heartstrings what will? But (!!) the symbolic road-trip to find oneself or the attempt to repair mental anguish through a physically disabled person just seemed too transparent. Likewise, I lost some patience with being strung along with certain plot points (trying to keep this spoiler-free). I almost think if the "big" chapter was moved to be the first chapter, it would have given the novel more power and impact.
So, yes... cranky, cranky... and not doing full justice to that fact that I did like it (3 stars = liked it), read it quite quickly (and compulsively) and had affection and pathos for this quirky cast of characters. Will surely consider another/the next Evison book, but this one just didn't have that oomph to push it up a star.
And while I won't say that I was not emotionally touched by this book, I have to say I felt manipulated. The main character, Benjamin Benjamin (okay, that's another sore thumb), is washed-up in middle-age having never fully recovered from a horrific life event - "the disaster" - who tries to pick up the pieces of his life by becoming a caretaker to a 16-year old with muscular dystrophy. So, if that doesn't pull at your heartstrings what will? But (!!) the symbolic road-trip to find oneself or the attempt to repair mental anguish through a physically disabled person just seemed too transparent. Likewise, I lost some patience with being strung along with certain plot points (trying to keep this spoiler-free). I almost think if the "big" chapter was moved to be the first chapter, it would have given the novel more power and impact.
So, yes... cranky, cranky... and not doing full justice to that fact that I did like it (3 stars = liked it), read it quite quickly (and compulsively) and had affection and pathos for this quirky cast of characters. Will surely consider another/the next Evison book, but this one just didn't have that oomph to push it up a star.
April 21, 2013
I was actually enjoying this book right up to the time of the road trip, which was the whole point of the story. The narrator is a doofus who lost his wife and two children, and is now employed as a care-giver for a teenage boy who is afflicted with MD, Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Benjamin (the narrator) is a good match for Trevor, the boy in his charge. Benjamin is childishly humorous and I couldn't stop picturing him as Seth Rogan. Everything he said sounded like Seth Rogan, which is probably why I enjoyed the book so much. The characters are all stock figures, but since the dialogue was good and the story was moving, I was happy to watch these little people play around. They were funny and cute.
But then they go on this formulaic road trip and meet more characters who are all straight from Central Casting, and the story gets old. Plus Seth Rogan (Benjamin) and his constant whining really got on my nerves the more I learned about him. You know those books where you feel sorry for the guy till you realize he really does deserve his fate?
What really drove me crazy is the mess created when Benjamin wouldn't sign divorce papers for his wife so she sent a process server to serve him with --- ? what: more papers? It doesn't matter. The point is that he and this process server go through a few exaggerated chase scenes and then he imagines the process server is following him across the country on his road trip. This is so off base on so many levels. Don't these authors get help from their editors when they go so far afield? This isn't fiction; this is fantasy.
But then they go on this formulaic road trip and meet more characters who are all straight from Central Casting, and the story gets old. Plus Seth Rogan (Benjamin) and his constant whining really got on my nerves the more I learned about him. You know those books where you feel sorry for the guy till you realize he really does deserve his fate?
What really drove me crazy is the mess created when Benjamin wouldn't sign divorce papers for his wife so she sent a process server to serve him with --- ? what: more papers? It doesn't matter. The point is that he and this process server go through a few exaggerated chase scenes and then he imagines the process server is following him across the country on his road trip. This is so off base on so many levels. Don't these authors get help from their editors when they go so far afield? This isn't fiction; this is fantasy.
December 7, 2012
This book is a beautiful balance between humor and pathos, deeply felt and a lot of fun to read. One of the benefits we strive for in my prison book group is to read titles that encourage an empathy with the characters, as having this skill is a step towards seeing life outside one's self, and acknowledging that our past mistakes or crimes impact others in ways we may not have anticipated. Benjamin Benjamin does just that here -- he's made a few mistakes or strange choices in his past, one of them so huge he feels practically paralyzed by it. But this is the story about how he gets through it -- not around it or under it or along side it, but straight through, by his ability to empathize with others and therefor see himself. It's an inspiring story without being maudlin, and I'd recommend it to anyone who could use a dose of empathy.
May 21, 2012
We’ve come-of-age with Will Miller, traversed the Olympics with Mather and drank kiltlifter with Krig, now Evison is taking us on the road with Ben Benjamin and Trev, a young man cursed with muscular dystrophy.
The book however, is more than the story of a road trip, it is a story of loss, suffering, alienation and redemption with a cast of very real, and flawed characters. While reading I found myself relating to each of the main characters at different points. This is one of the big things I am looking for when reading literature.
Evison continues to reinvent himself with each novel and his latest in no exception. The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving is a great story full of humor and most importantly heart.
The book however, is more than the story of a road trip, it is a story of loss, suffering, alienation and redemption with a cast of very real, and flawed characters. While reading I found myself relating to each of the main characters at different points. This is one of the big things I am looking for when reading literature.
Evison continues to reinvent himself with each novel and his latest in no exception. The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving is a great story full of humor and most importantly heart.
December 5, 2019
With each new novel, Jonathan Evison proves that he can’t be pigeonholed as an author. You want an atypical bildungsroman? Read his . Looking for an ambitious historical epic? Read his . You want a buddy, road trip story that transcends that clichéd description? Read his new novel, The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving. Evison writes with humor, honesty, and a snappy cadence that propels you through the story even when you’d like to take your time relishing his rich characterizations and vibrant landscapes. Each of his characters is trapped by circumstances that are seemingly beyond their control but the joy of this novel is to see how they all begin to wrestle that control back from the beyond, little by little. They are all ready for it, they just have to find the courage and tenacity to do it. Evison reveals a true knack for writing these wayward, flawed characters in such a way that makes them completely relatable and worth rooting for. He writes with depth and heart and even a little bravado, showing the beauty in tragedy, the humor in life, and the power of connection.
October 11, 2012
Recommended by Lisa Casper in an Indie Book webinar.
This book gets it right everywhere. Character development, story, imagery, setting, all of it. There's a perfect balance between wit and pain, awkwardness, insight, and growth. One review of Evison's other book said "tragicomic," which fits, I suppose, but I desperately want a better word for it.
The book is an ode to the awkward, painful "trying to make it right" sort of love of the Dad who screwed up and can't win, can't seem to get it right, can't get redemption in the eyes of his children, society or loved ones. It's a portrait of humans in pain and in acceptance, coping, and just plain living. It's honest, and for that, I loved it most.
There were a several scenes in there that were brilliant, but this is my favorite:
Trev, having had to enter a restaurant from the back, is wheeling his way through a restaurant kitchen and out past the counter. He "appears to diners as a severed head gliding smoothly across the countertop."
I looked out at patrons standing outside the doors one day, looking in at us, waiting for the library to open. For a moment they looked like a mob of zombies waiting to shuffle in and devour us. The severed head line reminded me of those little shifts in perspective where something innocuous can be something ridiculously funny (and twisted).
This book gets it right everywhere. Character development, story, imagery, setting, all of it. There's a perfect balance between wit and pain, awkwardness, insight, and growth. One review of Evison's other book said "tragicomic," which fits, I suppose, but I desperately want a better word for it.
The book is an ode to the awkward, painful "trying to make it right" sort of love of the Dad who screwed up and can't win, can't seem to get it right, can't get redemption in the eyes of his children, society or loved ones. It's a portrait of humans in pain and in acceptance, coping, and just plain living. It's honest, and for that, I loved it most.
There were a several scenes in there that were brilliant, but this is my favorite:
Trev, having had to enter a restaurant from the back, is wheeling his way through a restaurant kitchen and out past the counter. He "appears to diners as a severed head gliding smoothly across the countertop."
I looked out at patrons standing outside the doors one day, looking in at us, waiting for the library to open. For a moment they looked like a mob of zombies waiting to shuffle in and devour us. The severed head line reminded me of those little shifts in perspective where something innocuous can be something ridiculously funny (and twisted).
September 8, 2012
In the last few years I have been suffering from a surfeit of empathy in regards to my reading, a juvenile tendency to see myself in protagonist after protagonist to a troubling degree. This may explain the increased amount of genre fiction in my reading fare, as I seek a more comfortable distance between myself and those I read about.
Jonathan's book just about did me in, and I wince in over-identification every time I read a review that describes Benjamin as a loser.
Benjamin's problems are not my problems, Benjamin's grief and loss is not my grief and loss, the loss of one's children, marriage and a lack of a career is not the same as the loss of a carreer, marriage, and subsequent overdose of the ex-wife. . . . but I understand the blur, the disappearance of 2 years or 10 to the purgatorial force of inertia. Most importantly I understand the need for re-invention in order to carry on.
I love this book because it gives no easy answers, no empty platitudes and it has no time for pity . . . and yet through all its hard mindedness . . . there is warmth, humor, love and the possibility of redemption.
Jonathan's book just about did me in, and I wince in over-identification every time I read a review that describes Benjamin as a loser.
Benjamin's problems are not my problems, Benjamin's grief and loss is not my grief and loss, the loss of one's children, marriage and a lack of a career is not the same as the loss of a carreer, marriage, and subsequent overdose of the ex-wife. . . . but I understand the blur, the disappearance of 2 years or 10 to the purgatorial force of inertia. Most importantly I understand the need for re-invention in order to carry on.
I love this book because it gives no easy answers, no empty platitudes and it has no time for pity . . . and yet through all its hard mindedness . . . there is warmth, humor, love and the possibility of redemption.
November 2, 2018
Summary from Book Browse
Ben Benjamin has lost almost everything - his wife, his family, his home, his livelihood. With few options, Ben enrolls in a night class called The Fundamentals of Caregiving taught in the basement of a local church. There Ben is instructed in the art of inserting catheters and avoiding liability, about professionalism, and how to keep physical and emotional distance between client and provider.
Ben is assigned to nineteen-year-old Trev, who is in the advanced stages of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. He discovers that the endless mnemonics and service plan checklists have done little to prepare him for the reality of caring for a fiercely stubborn, sexually frustrated adolescent. As they embark on a wild road trip across the American West to visit Trev's ailing father, a new camaraderie replaces the traditional boundary between patient and caregiver.
My Feelings
I listened to this book on audio. The story was well told, but, to me, based on a formula. Nothing quite that engaging. I am really thinking that the more books I read, the more books I find that are the same as others I have read. It is taking a little more to get me excited. Perhaps if I had read this 5 years ago, I would have liked it more.
3.5 stars
Ben Benjamin has lost almost everything - his wife, his family, his home, his livelihood. With few options, Ben enrolls in a night class called The Fundamentals of Caregiving taught in the basement of a local church. There Ben is instructed in the art of inserting catheters and avoiding liability, about professionalism, and how to keep physical and emotional distance between client and provider.
Ben is assigned to nineteen-year-old Trev, who is in the advanced stages of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. He discovers that the endless mnemonics and service plan checklists have done little to prepare him for the reality of caring for a fiercely stubborn, sexually frustrated adolescent. As they embark on a wild road trip across the American West to visit Trev's ailing father, a new camaraderie replaces the traditional boundary between patient and caregiver.
My Feelings
I listened to this book on audio. The story was well told, but, to me, based on a formula. Nothing quite that engaging. I am really thinking that the more books I read, the more books I find that are the same as others I have read. It is taking a little more to get me excited. Perhaps if I had read this 5 years ago, I would have liked it more.
3.5 stars
November 28, 2022
বেঞ্জামি� তা� জীবনের চর� হতাশাপূর্ণ অবস্থায় কেয়ারগিভা� এর একটি কোর্� শে� কর� কেয়ারগিভি� এর পার্� টাইম চাকর� নেয়� একটি বাসায় বিরল রোগে আক্রান্ত ট্রেভরের যত্ন নিতে শুরু করে। কিছুদি� পর ট্রেভরকে নিয়� লং রো� ট্রি� নেয় এব� পথ� অনেকের সাথে দেখা হয়। � রোড় ট্রিপই ট্রেভরকে নতুনভাবে বাঁচতে শেখায়�
জীবন� শুধু একবা� দাঁড়িয়� প্রস্রাব করার সক্ষমত� অর্জ� ছি� ট্রেভরের সেরা অর্জ�, সেরা সুখ।
এজন্যই আম� বল�,
জীবন� শুধু একবা� দাঁড়িয়� প্রস্রাব করার সক্ষমত� অর্জ� ছি� ট্রেভরের সেরা অর্জ�, সেরা সুখ।
এজন্যই আম� বল�,
ভয� মিথ্যা হতাশ� মিথ্যা অবিশ্বাস মিথ্যা মৃত্যু মিথ্যা
আকাশ সত্য পৃথিবী সত্য প্রমাণ সত্য আনন্� সত্য
October 11, 2012
Even though the title of this book makes it sound like a textbook, Jonathan Evison's new novel is a wry, funny, and (dare I say) heartwarming journey of one man's emotional recovery through the unlikeliest of processes.
To say Benjamin Benjamin's life has fallen apart would be an understatement. A former stay-at-home father, in an instant, he lost everything—his family, his marriage, his home, and his livelihood. After a long period of self-loathing and drinking, with no job prospects on the horizon, he enrolls in a night course called "The Fundamentals of Caregiving." In the course, he learns how to insert catheters and correctly transfer clients from wheelchair to bed or toilet, he learns about professionalism, and keeping physical and emotional distance between client and provider, and he comes away with a lot of different checklists on how to be a good caregiver.
Yet Ben's first job, caring for 19-year-old Trevor, a rebellious adolescent in the advanced stages of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, proves that all of the checklists and procedures don't help you actually deal with your client. Ben and Trevor forge a connection based on routine, ogling at women, watching cable, and dreaming of all of the places they'll never go, but Ben is unprepared for the upheaval in everyone's lives which occurs when Trevor's estranged father tries to visit. All of the emotional distance in the world can't keep Ben from reflecting his own failures in this situation.
While Ben is trying to do right by Trevor, he's also continuing to deal with the after-effects of his own tragedy. His wife is trying to serve him with divorce papers, his neighbors are complaining about him, his always-solid best friend is having his own issues of conscience, and Ben just wants it all to go away. When he and Trevor embark on a roadtrip to visit Trevor's father, all of his crises come to a head as they come into contact with some interesting people along the way.
I really enjoyed the way Evison let this story unfold. I worried it might be a little too wry and sarcastic, but he balanced those qualities nicely with all of the emotional issues the characters dealt with. I also liked that the book didn't end on a maudlin note as I felt it would. While Ben is immensely needy and unstable (and who wouldn't be after what he has been through), through caregiving he starts to find himself again, although he is clearly getting as much care as he's giving.
This is a really enjoyable book populated with characters who are much more complex than you think they are. I'm now intrigued to go back and read some of Evison's earlier books.
To say Benjamin Benjamin's life has fallen apart would be an understatement. A former stay-at-home father, in an instant, he lost everything—his family, his marriage, his home, and his livelihood. After a long period of self-loathing and drinking, with no job prospects on the horizon, he enrolls in a night course called "The Fundamentals of Caregiving." In the course, he learns how to insert catheters and correctly transfer clients from wheelchair to bed or toilet, he learns about professionalism, and keeping physical and emotional distance between client and provider, and he comes away with a lot of different checklists on how to be a good caregiver.
Yet Ben's first job, caring for 19-year-old Trevor, a rebellious adolescent in the advanced stages of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, proves that all of the checklists and procedures don't help you actually deal with your client. Ben and Trevor forge a connection based on routine, ogling at women, watching cable, and dreaming of all of the places they'll never go, but Ben is unprepared for the upheaval in everyone's lives which occurs when Trevor's estranged father tries to visit. All of the emotional distance in the world can't keep Ben from reflecting his own failures in this situation.
While Ben is trying to do right by Trevor, he's also continuing to deal with the after-effects of his own tragedy. His wife is trying to serve him with divorce papers, his neighbors are complaining about him, his always-solid best friend is having his own issues of conscience, and Ben just wants it all to go away. When he and Trevor embark on a roadtrip to visit Trevor's father, all of his crises come to a head as they come into contact with some interesting people along the way.
I really enjoyed the way Evison let this story unfold. I worried it might be a little too wry and sarcastic, but he balanced those qualities nicely with all of the emotional issues the characters dealt with. I also liked that the book didn't end on a maudlin note as I felt it would. While Ben is immensely needy and unstable (and who wouldn't be after what he has been through), through caregiving he starts to find himself again, although he is clearly getting as much care as he's giving.
This is a really enjoyable book populated with characters who are much more complex than you think they are. I'm now intrigued to go back and read some of Evison's earlier books.
August 11, 2014
It was a Friday evening. I stopped by the bookstore after work to browse. This book caught my eye, and, on a whim, I picked it up, purchased it, and started reading it on the bus ride home.
Let me say from the start, this is a road trip book. I'm not the biggest fan of road trip books.
We follow a man named Benjamin Benjamin Jr. as his life has fallen apart in the past few years. There is some sort of accident than happened that slowly reveals itself the more you read the book. He is trying to put it all together again and decides to take a class on caregiving at a locally community center.
From there he finds a client, a 19 year old named Trevor who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy. His mom is a hardworking woman who doesn't have time to do everything she needs, so she takes on Benjamin as a caregiver. Trevor's dad is not really in his life. But there sparks the rest of the novel.
No, this isn't some grand literary masterpiece. But the dialogue is witty and realistic (something I find people struggle with writing a lot of the time), and the story is heartfelt and at times heartbreaking.
Essentially, this book reminded me of watching an indie film. In fact, this would be the perfect indie film. Think "Little Miss Sunshine," where anything that can go wrong will, but the reader/audience will be the better for it.
Let me say from the start, this is a road trip book. I'm not the biggest fan of road trip books.
We follow a man named Benjamin Benjamin Jr. as his life has fallen apart in the past few years. There is some sort of accident than happened that slowly reveals itself the more you read the book. He is trying to put it all together again and decides to take a class on caregiving at a locally community center.
From there he finds a client, a 19 year old named Trevor who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy. His mom is a hardworking woman who doesn't have time to do everything she needs, so she takes on Benjamin as a caregiver. Trevor's dad is not really in his life. But there sparks the rest of the novel.
No, this isn't some grand literary masterpiece. But the dialogue is witty and realistic (something I find people struggle with writing a lot of the time), and the story is heartfelt and at times heartbreaking.
Essentially, this book reminded me of watching an indie film. In fact, this would be the perfect indie film. Think "Little Miss Sunshine," where anything that can go wrong will, but the reader/audience will be the better for it.
March 24, 2018
"Maybe that's what happens to crazy people, they become too honest. They can't see anything but truth anymore, and they're compelled to share it, when they ought to shut up about it."
Back in 2016, I watched 'The Fundamentals of Caring', the film based on this book. I loved it. If you haven't heard of it, it's a Netflix Original, and it stars Paul Rudd and Selena Gomez. Seriously, go check out the movie. Fast forward to this year - 2018, I decided to read this book. And while there are differences between the movie and the novel, they are both wonderful.
It's a story about broken people, a man who is fighting a divorce, a father who ran off on his family, attempting to rekindle relationships, a daughter running away from her family because it hurts too much, and a boy forever bound to a wheelchair because of muscular dystrophy. While it shows the brokenness of multiple characters, it also shows hope.
Because in spite of our brokenness, in spite of our flaws, we do have hope. We just might have to go on a journey to find it.
Back in 2016, I watched 'The Fundamentals of Caring', the film based on this book. I loved it. If you haven't heard of it, it's a Netflix Original, and it stars Paul Rudd and Selena Gomez. Seriously, go check out the movie. Fast forward to this year - 2018, I decided to read this book. And while there are differences between the movie and the novel, they are both wonderful.
It's a story about broken people, a man who is fighting a divorce, a father who ran off on his family, attempting to rekindle relationships, a daughter running away from her family because it hurts too much, and a boy forever bound to a wheelchair because of muscular dystrophy. While it shows the brokenness of multiple characters, it also shows hope.
Because in spite of our brokenness, in spite of our flaws, we do have hope. We just might have to go on a journey to find it.
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