Immortal Bird: A Family Memoir

Amazon Best Books of the Month, February 2012: Doron Weber lost his brilliant son Damon far too soon. Now he has channeled his grief and rage into a heartrending memoir about the struggle to manage Damon's illness while fostering his talents. Immortal Bird opens by proudly introducing us to the gifted Weber family: Doron, a Rhodes Scholar, met his wife at Oxford; their three children are loving and accomplished. Damon, the eldest, shows particular grace in the face of a rare and debilitating heart condition. As his son's health waxes and wanes, Doron advocates fiercely for Damon inside a medical system that consistently fails him. By the end, Doron's joy has faded and his fury has become palpable—the final pages are full of italics and brief, horrifying facts: "My son is disintegrating before my eyes." Damon's decline may be difficult to witness, but we would all do well to watch and learn from his extraordinary strength. --Mia Lipman