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This is a book like no other, despite the sad and all-too-common subject of mental illness and drug overdose. Only a memoir could extract such soul-searching and gut-felt emotions. Yet Holden after and before<\/em> by Tara McGuire includes fantasy, investigation, meditation, and more, illustrating the struggle of the author who tries to imagine what was going on in Holden\u2019s mind, her 21-year-old son, who died despite his fight to escape the grip of addiction. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n As a writer, I enjoyed McGuire\u2019s writing style and the book\u2019s creative structure. As a reader, the story then took me <\/em>on the same convoluted journey as the author\u2019s search for understanding. As a mother, I felt her understandable need for atonement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I didn’t expect a new understanding of graffiti: McGuire shows that graffiti was Holden\u2019s way of exteriorizing his incomprehensible pain. Although tagging looks messy to the uninitiated and is a criminal act, it’s an outlet for lost souls who become gifted yet marginal artists. Yes, graffiti is more than defacement, besides humanizing seedy or otherwise deserted places.\u00a0The author describes the parking lot in East Vancouver, where the Holden Courage [Holden\u2019s last name] Graffiti Jam covers a 20-metre concrete wall. Holden\u2019s closest friends created a background with reproductions of all Holden\u2019s graffiti. This memorial won\u2019t be there forever, but meanwhile, it is a reminder that mental distress needs, if not our tolerance, at least our understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It always pains me to see young, homeless drug-addicts, but there is some selfish comfort in knowing that even the most willing mothers can\u2019t always reach their children\u2019s darkness. Holden <\/em>knew his mother\u2019s love, yet the pain wouldn\u2019t let itself be soothed. Page 167 resonated with me. McGuire\u2019s journey leads her to accept the concept of reincarnation as a means for education. Having recently lost a son (to cancer), and although McGuire\u2019s journey is different from mine, I found validation: we are \u2018here\u2019 to keep learning through life\u2019s experiences until our souls will, in some other dimension, be whole, at last. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This book is more than a mother\u2019s ‘extra-ordinary’ memoir; it enriches the collective testimonials about mental illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is a book like no other, despite the sad and all-too-common subject of mental illness and drug overdose. Only a memoir could extract such soul-searching and gut-felt emotions. Yet Holden after and before by Tara McGuire includes fantasy, investigation, meditation, and more, illustrating the struggle of the author who tries to imagine what was goingContinue reading →<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8033,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-stories","has-thumb"],"yoast_head":"\n