"After Visiting Friends: A Son's Story" By Michael Hainey

After Visiting Friends: A Son's Story is a memoir written by Michael Hainey, an editor at Chicago's GQ Magazine. The memoir is about his journey to uncover the truth about his father's death, which had remained a mystery for more than thirty years. Hainey's father, Robert, died when Hainey was just six years old. The cause of death was a heart attack, or so the family was told. However, as Hainey grew older, he began to question the circumstances surrounding his father's death. He sensed that there was something amiss about the way his father had died, and this led him on a quest to uncover the truth.The book is structured around Hainey's investigation, which he conducts as an adult. He starts by talking to his mother, uncle, and other family members, who are evasive about the details of his father's death. Hainey's father was a newspaperman, and the author draws on his own experience in journalism to conduct interviews, dig up old records, and piece together clues.The memoir is not only a story of a son's quest to uncover the truth about his father's death, but also a portrait of a bygone era. Hainey's father was a newspaperman in the 1950s and 1960s, a time when journalism was a glamorous profession, and newspapers were the primary source of news for most Americans. The author's portrayal of his father's world is vivid and engaging, with descriptions of the newsroom, the characters who inhabited it, and the culture of the time.Hainey's writing is elegant and evocative. He has a talent for describing people and places in a way that brings them to life. For example, when he describes his father's newspaper, he writes, "The paper was more than just a collection of stories. It was a community, a way of life. It had a voice, a rhythm, a pulse." This description captures the essence of what a newspaper was to people in that era and the importance it had in their lives.The memoir is also a meditation on the nature of memory and the stories we tell ourselves about our past. As Hainey delves deeper into his investigation, he realizes that his memories of his father are incomplete and sometimes even false. He discovers that his father had a secret life, with a mistress and a child, which had been kept hidden from the family. Hainey's journey to uncover the truth is also a journey of self-discovery, as he comes to terms with the fact that his father was not the person he had thought he was.In conclusion, After Visiting Friends: A Son's Story is a beautifully written memoir that tells a compelling story of a son's quest to uncover the truth about his father's death. It is also a portrait of a bygone era, a meditation on memory and the stories we tell ourselves, and a journey of self-discovery. Hainey's writing is elegant and evocative, and he has a talent for bringing people and places to life. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in memoirs, journalism, or the complexities of family relationships.