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The Book of Jesse: A Story of Youth, Illness, and Medicine

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Life on an intensive care unit is such as to induce family members to forget that there is, or has ever been, normal life elsewhere. It is the great merit of Michael Rowe's book to remind the reader that his son Jesse had always attempted to build such a normal life for himself, even as a child battling numerous illnesses. Jesse did this by creating many drawings, and Rowe includes both reproductions and verbal analyses of them in the book. The effect is to normalize Jesse for us, to re-humanize him, to lift him out of the patient role, as he lies teetering between life and death on the ICU. I took care of my father during his critical illness of five-and-a-half years, and I can attest that the book eloquently captures the minute-by-minute feel of intensive caregiving, of love at full emergency arousal.

The Book of Jesse is about the life, illness and death of a young man. It is equally the story of his father's efforts to care for his son in the face of serious and ultimately fatal illness. It is about the family's struggles and, most of all, about the mysteries of creativity and of human development as long as life is breathed. In his introduction, Michael Rowe says that the writer dons"the mantle of creative artist while dealing in the coin of true story; and let his readers decide whether he has written a good story, and a true story."

In my view, this true story is also a good story. It is surprising that a reader should look forward to reading a book about the illness and death of a young man. Yet the book is intrinsically interesting and compelling, both in style and substance. The use of Jesse's drawings offers a symbolic focus that reminds us of the power and transcendence of art. The moving back and forth between events before and during Jesse's last illness and after his death, while confusing at times, also works because it helps to show the varying moods and tugs that his father and family encounter. The impact of modern technological medicine on patients, families, and medical staff is also well described.

There are no easy answers here, and no manipulations either. The author's style is straightforward and honest. Despite the unanswered questions and the grieving that continues, this book leaves the reader with a sense of wholeness both about Jesse and his father's struggle to understand his son and himself.

The Book of Jesse by Michael Rowe is the story of a family's love and suffering as they watch and try to help their loved one struggle to stay alive.
It is a book in which the author has shared his thoughts and feelings with us. In doing so, he has put into words what many of us have experienced in one way or another.
As a retired member of the madical profession, I highly recommend it be read by everyone in the medical field. It will enhance and renew their empathy.
To the author I say "God Bless you and your family for all that you did for Jesse."
- Gloria M. Coughlin

I recommend this book from many perspectives: as a parent, a social worker and former health administrator, and as a relative of another young man who died from liver disease. I specifically recommend this book for the precise reasons that some readers will find themselves struggling with. The author exposes the unpretty side of medical care and in doing so, heightens our awareness of all too readily accepted medical practices and behavior. Rowe presents the uneasy complexities of two families grasping for precious moments with their shared loved one. And, a father's struggle to make sense out of devastation is sometimes hard to read. Self serving? Yes. Of course. It's a father's story about his son. However, the author need not apologize. In writing this book, he helps us know ourselves better; we can appreciate the sharp, difficult realities of illness better; we are challenged to see hope and beauty amidst the shards; and, we get to know - and learn from - a courageous young man, Jesse. This book should be required reading for medical students and professionals.

With a gentle but sure hand, Rowe guides us on a tour of a young man's talent and illness, and a father's profound hope and loss. The book is illustrated with pictures drawn by Jesse, which seem to range from a fascination with comic book heroes, to anguished representations of mortality--some of which are on par with works from the Vienna Secession. As such, Rowe sets upon a mission of collaboration with his late son, and introduces us to Jesse in the most intimate and graceful of fashions. At one point in the text, Rowe describes how he pretends to haggle over a painting of Jesse's with his other son, Daniel; although Rowe knows this is contest he must lose, he engages it to watch "the heat of [Daniel's] love draw Jesse from his shadows." This book represents a similar endeavor that meets its goals, and in so doing, effectively draws Jesse from the shadows of illness, medicine, and time, to our conscience.

Rowe's memoir of his nineteen-year-old son battling liver disease(along with many other complications) is touching and unforgettable. This is hardly a "self-inflicted attempt at controlling the doctors" who were involved with Jesse. I have felt the pain of losing someone close from a liver disease, and therefore, can connect deeply with the author's and his family's sad story. I really enjoyed the book and hope to read more from Rowe.

Usually, I find reviews to be a good indication of whether Iwill like a book or not, but not this one. This book just didn't seem to have any objectivity. Okay, it's a memoir, but the author seems so bitter and angry. There was none of the perspective I thinkan author should have when they write a book that is this personal. Ialso didn't buy the author's interpretation of his son's drawings, which have a big role in the story.

The Book Of Jesse: A Story Of Youth, Illness, And Medicine is Michael Rowe's fatherly and heartfelt remembrances and personal testimony about his son Jesse, who battled with physical illness and lost his life at the untimely age of 19, after two failed liver transplants. The Book Of Jesse presents cherished memories of a bright and thoughtful young man, the deep bond between father and son, and a journey of trying to understand life and loss. The Book Of Jesse is highly recommended reading, especially for those who appreciate having to deal with love and loss within their own lives and family.

The Book of Jesse is a beautifully written and enormously moving account of a father's relationship with his dying son and the medical community in which he has put his hope and faith along the way. It is at times overwhelmingly sad but also filled with humor and imbued with the extraordinary spirit of Jesse, a talented young artist and very special human being who faces his illness with enormous courage and resilience. I highly recommend this book, particularly to anyone with a child with a serious illness or with an interest in modern medicine and its challenges and limitations.

I feel that I can hardly improve upon the eloquent remarks other reviewers have made about The Book of Jesse. But I would like to counter some comments in the Library Journal review. Michael Rowe has reached far and deep, but what he attempts to do in this narrative is not "too much." I think he succeeds admirably in raising challenging issues of life and death, confronting his own demons, and telling a story that, while deeply personal, is truly transcendent. In my view, Rowe's agonizing over the question of malpractice --rather than a shallow attempt to "pin blame" on inept professionals, as suggested by the Library Journal reviewer -- is a heartfelt, brutally honest, and ultimately cathartic view into the kind of soul's torment that we all experience at some time in our lives. This is a profound and deeply moving book. Full disclosure: I edited this book, though Michael Rowe hardly needed much help. And it stood up over repeated readings, and stays with me still.