A portrait of grief, loss and coping, My Father's Wake is well worth the read. Kevin Toolis takes readers on quite the journey, not only recounting the traditions of death and dying in the Irish culture, but his own personal experiences and life lessons. I appreciated his openness and his easy conversational style. Though many times I had to put the book aside for awhile to let the feelings move through me, I found myself drawn to complete the journey. I think My Father's wake would make a superb book discussion group selection, I certainly wanted to talk about what I'd read.

I wholeheartedly agree with the premise of this book regarding societal treatment of death. However, the writing style did not work for me. Toolis is a good writer, don't get me wrong. It is just that I dislike lyrical, purple prose regarding scenic views and there is a significant amount of that here. I also thought the portions of the book covering his experiences as a journalist to be less interesting than sections focused on the Irish approach to death. I do think there are a great deal of people who would love this book and it takes a valuable look at an important topic. It was just done in a style that didn't work for me personally.