John Gunther died of a brain tumor when he was 17 years old. Those around him knew that, if he had lived, he would have done very great things. His father apparently knew this too. What his father wrote is a touching and exquisitely written memoir of suprising power and revelation. He starts off by telling us he will never insinuate his son his perfect, well he does for awhile and it gets alittle irritating then we start to believe him. We believe that this amazing teenager is slowly being destroyed from the inside out by a very odd tumor. I say odd because over the course of the book it does the following: grows, mutates, shrinks, destroyed, mutates, grows, shrinks alot, grows again.
His father is almos exhaustive in his medical describings and the daily goings-on of his son. His journal like stlye serves as a medium for his emotion, a very powerful and almost destructive need to shout from the roof-tops the name and deeds of his son. Johnny Gunther lived longer, and in better health, than anyone else to that day with a glioma- brain tumor. His father would have us believe it is because of his incredible spirit. And by the end of the book you'll believe it too.
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