Why read Holden, After and Before?

Book cover of Holden, After and Before: Love Letter for a Son Lost to Overdose

Book description

is a moving meditation on grief: a stunning book that traces Tara McGuire’s excavation and documentation of the life path of her son Holden, a graffiti artist who died of an accidental opioid overdose at the age of twenty-one. Beginning with Holden’s death and leaping through time and space, McGuire…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Holden, After and Before as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Adriana Barton

Author

Tara McGuire’s exquisite writing made me see the opioid crisis through new eyes.

Wisely, she steers clear of the brutal statistics and non-stop anguish that make many books about overdose painful to read. Instead, through a skillful blend of memoir and speculative fiction, she made me laugh, cry, and vow not to moralize. Combining journalistic research with cinematic descriptions of her son Holden’s private life, McGuire drew me into the events and decisions that led to his sudden death at 21.

Holden, like most drug users, cannot be dismissed as a self-destructive loser. Talented and vulnerable, hopeful yet flawed, he…

From Adriana's 3 favorite reads in 2023.