Home is Burning by Dan Marshall will feature on the Radio 2 Fact not Fiction Book Club with Claudia Winkleman on Friday 16 October.
The book was selected with the help of a panel made up of Reading Agency and library staff from across the UK. Find out more about the new strand of the Radio 2 Book Club.
We have an exclusive extract available for you to read as well as some discussion questions for your reading group.
WARNING – extract includes strong language and adult themes.
Home is Burning
Dan’s mother has always had cancer, fighting her disease with tenacity and a mouth foul enough to make a sailor blush. But just as she faces a relapse Dan’s beloved father is diagnosed with ALS, a form of motor neurone disease which quickly erodes this once marathon runner’s body. Dan, a spoiled white twenty something living the good life in Los Angeles, has no choice but to return home to help.
Home is Burning describes that year back at home in his parent’s basement in Salt Lake City as he reunites with his four eccentric siblings. Never has there been a more reluctant family reunion: His older sister is resentful, having stayed closer to home to bear the brunt of their mother’s illness. His younger brother comes to lend a hand, giving up a journalism career and evenings cruising Chicago gay bars. His next younger sister, a sullen teenager, is a rebel with a cause. And his baby sister – through it all – can only think about her beloved dance troop. Dan returns to shouting matches at the dinner table, old flames knocking at the door, and a speech device programmed to help his father communicate that is as crude as the rest of them.
Together this unlikely group form Team Terminal and go to battle against their parents’ illnesses and occasionally each other. As Dan gingerly steps in to his role as caregiver, wheelchair wrangler and sibling referee, he watches pieces of his previous life slip away and comes to realise that you don’t get to choose when it’s time to grow up.
Selection panel review
Our reading panel of staff from The Reading Agency and public library staff really enjoyed Home is Burning – here are some of their comments:
“I can’t believe that that a true story about terminal illness could have me laughing out loud from the first page. It deals with loss, fear, guilt, love, family, strength and poop jokes. Just read it.”
“I loved this book. It’s quite a feat to write a wickedly funny page turner about terminally ill parents but somehow Dan Marshall manages it. It’s made me think differently about how we talk about terminal illness and the dangers of tiptoeing around it, so it would definitely generate debate. Warning – it is very sweary (Marshall admits that himself in the opening pages).”
About the author
Dan Marshall grew up in a nice home with nice parents in Salt Lake City, Utah, before attending the University of California, Berkeley. After college, Dan worked at a strategic-communications public relations firm in Los Angeles. At twenty-five, he left work and returned to Salt Lake to take care of his sick parents. While caring for them, he stated writing detailed accounts about many of their weird, sad, funny adventures. Dan now lives in Santa Monica. Home is Burning is his first book.
A word from Dan
“I’m absolutely honoured to be chosen for the Radio 2 Book Club. I’m so excited to share my crazy, crude, sad, and slightly funny story with readers. This book is basically my diary, so you’re all getting a chance to read my diary.
My goal with any piece of writing is to make people feel something—whether it’s sadness, joy, surprise or even anger—so I hope this book does that for readers. I also hope that the book helps anyone who is going through their own tragedy know that they’re not alone out there, that another family of idiots has sloppily gone through something similar. We’re all in this together. Hope you enjoy the book!"
Get involved
Tune in to Claudia Winkleman’s Arts Show on Friday 16 October to hear an interview with Dan Marshall talking about his book.
Have you read Home is Burning? You can share your thoughts with us on Twitter using #HomeIsBurning, or post a review. You can also follow author Dan Marshall on Twitter.
Win 10 copies of Home is Burning for your reading group – just complete our short survey.
Want to find out more? Take a look at the Radio 2 Book Club Twitter feed or find out more on the Radio 2 Book Club website.
