…A story about life, and what goes with it…—-‘I doubt there’s a person alive who cannot relate to this…it’s like nothing I’ve ever read or am likely to read again.’—-J.L. Redding John and Claire Edghes have a wonderful marriage. John is a sweet and likeable man, whose love for his wife is unquestionable, as is her love for him. But when life deals John a devastating blow, as happens to … John a devastating blow, as happens to far too many people, and his wife is taken from him, John’s life corkscrews into an overwhelming and agonizing journey to the bottom of life. There, in the darkness of his despair, a homeless drunk in trouble with the law, he wakes up one day in a rehab center, where he is pushed to look at what he has become…
…Forced to face both his past and possible future, John must find the path to rise from the despairing quicksand and somehow manage to find a way to survive. The question is, without Claire, can he?
*A BETTER PLACE TO BE
was awarded the Bronze Medal for Literary Excellence from Ireland’s prestigiousDD International Awards; and,
A BETTER PLACE TO BE
is a B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree.
–‘…David Wind doesn’t disappoint with “A Better Place To Be” as he brilliantly reverse engineers a Harry Chapin classic song. The story stands alone even if you’ve never heard the song. [Wind] has a wonderful ability to paint mental pictures with his writing.’ M.Kauf
–‘An amazingly beautiful story of love, death and depression. Hitting bottom and rebounding to a place not so terrible. The Chapin song sets our hero up for a memorable night. Put this at the top of your to be read list!’ A.Keeran
–‘A moving story that is thoughtfully composed and beautifully written. Worth reading for the poetic nature of the author’s prose alone, but the story will not disappoint either.’ Bella
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Wow.
That word just comes to mind over and over, in regards to this book, along with the phrase, heart-wrenching. It’s good though – incredibly, in a makes-you-feel-things-and-think-things brilliantly good.
Upon first meeting John, he’s likable enough. He soon turns out to be sweet and the reader would have to be dead to not feel his love for Claire – and it is mutual. So the two of them have this great, comfortable thing…until tragedy strikes. Then the reader is treated to a gut-wrenching, realistic, accurate view of what happens all too often to too many people. I doubt there’s a person alive who cannot relate to this… Still, Wind puts it all so simply and so realistically, it’s like nothing i’ve ever read or am likely to read again.
Not only does he repeatedly rip out my heart and stomp all over it – and I like it somehow, so apparently I’m some kind of sadist – but he perfectly portrays a good – better than average actually- man turning into completely something different, as a result of the bulls— that life has thrown at him. It’s fascinating to see someone on a downward spiral with such detail and realism and it made me think… you just never know what people have been through, in order to end up what/who/where they are. It prompted thinking about other things as well, annoying, hot-button issues like the medical care situation in America – but that’s a conversation for somewhere else.
Portrayal of John trying to crawl his way back into being a contributing member of society, and before that, even working to figure out whether that’s what he wanted, seems accurate. The help he receives from a brilliant doctor and even the rulings from a fair judge instill thoughts of something like, ‘This is how it should be in a perfect world… rehabilitating people, not just locking them up, necessarily.’
Point is, if you want a book that’s real and will make you think, this is the one.
If you don’t want to think but like a book that’ll give you all the feels, this is also the one. It’s well detailed with perfect continuity.
I’ve now read several very different genres in Wind’s voice and all are amazing; he has this rare, raw talent, to write anything, I think
And did I mention it’s based on a song? ‘A Better Place to Be’ by Harry Chapin, a song that’ll never be the same for me. It seems completely natural as if the book IS the song and the song IS the book. Brilliantly perfect.
ALL the stars. All of them. Wow.
I loved how David Wind took a Harry Chapin Song and grew it into a novel!
A Better Place to Be by David Wind takes the reader on lead character John Edghes’ journey after life deals him a devastating blow. Inspired by the Harry Chapin song of the same name, this exquisitely-written novel pays homage to the song while creating a detailed back story and character study.
The author gets deep inside the mind and soul of John as he paints a realistic portrait of a man’s descent into despair and his struggle to reclaim functionality in the real world. It’s a long, agonizing, but compelling ordeal that paints a stark portrait of the rocky road to recovery and wholeness.
Whether you’re familiar with the Harry Chapin song or not, I highly recommend this novel for readers who like serious fiction that delves deep inside the characters.
David Wind’s books are too god to miss.