Who Killed Mom?: A Delinquent Son's Meditation on Family, Mortality, and Very Tacky Candles

In this witty and compassionate debut, Canadian broadcaster Burgess examines the life and death of his mother, Joan, and his own supposed role in her demise. At her deathbed, Burgess ponders how he could be responsible for her deterioration, since, "Generally speaking, important people do not simply expire...Surely her husband took years off her life...Then there are the children. None had motive, but all had opportunity%E2%80%94and time to make it look like natural causes. Damning evidence is easy to find." Indeed, Burgess provides plenty of it%E2%80%94the youngest of five children in a family of "Christmas fundamentalists" with a "malevolent force" of a grandmother who left lifelong scars on Joan's psyche, Burgess was a hell-raiser. With impartial veracity, he muses about his experiences with drugs and alcoholism (and resultant prosecution), potty training trauma, and delinquent friends, all set against his mother's lifelong emotional and physical struggles, and the realities and everyday heartbreak of elder care. Though clearly not responsible for his mother's death (who suffered from thyroid problems and Parkinson's), Burgess honestly highlights the great ruthlessness of familial love, and the power of humor and storytelling to cope with life and death. (Mar. 20)