Thanks to Netgalley and FSG for the ebook. Obed Silva is an English professor in California. He’s also in a wheelchair and can’t keep any relationship because he can never stop drinking. Now he’s in Mexico and surrounded by his large, extended family as they gather to bury Obed’s father who has died at 48 from a lifetime of drinking. Obed tries to get through these few days by drinking, but also remembering the loving, but very complicated relationship he had with the man.

"The Death of My Father the Pope" is a memoir about Obed Silva's memory of, life with, and preparation for the funeral of his father. The piece of the book that stands out to me the most is that no matter how much Silva's father hurt him and his family, or the years they spent away from each other, his father's death seemed like the worst event of his life. Silva presents vivid imagery of his and his father's daily rituals with drugs and alcohol and the gradual decay of their bodies, except that Silva's father eventually dies at a young age. "Death of My Father" also delves into the lives of families who are separated by the US/Mexico border and the pull of one's roots with the need to building a life for oneself where he has landed. I'm looking forward to more of Silva's writing. This was a really good book.