Nonfiction Book Award Status: Bronze
Synopsis
Views from the Cockpit: The Journey of a Son is a memoir born from pain.
Page by page, year by year, tender father-son memories of airplane watching transform into nightmarish, turbulent family drama.
Upon the discovery that his father had been the victim of elder abuse as his health was rapidly deteriorating, the author finds himself reevaluating the decisions his father made throughout his life. With an unshakable, shocking ending, the authors’ probing dissection of a man he thought he knew reckons with disloyalty, depression, religion and death, leaving no stone unturned.
Through sharp, sometimes hilariously brash analysis, decorated in plane metaphors and imagery, the author expresses his commitment to truth with sincerity and transparency. He reaches for forgiveness, understanding and compromise in the face of absurdity and uncompromising rigidity.
Ultimately, he contemplates a different “flight path” drawn from past lessons. He encourages readers to do the same.
A must-read for sons, fathers and families. Book-club discussion guide included.
Author Bio:
J. Ross Victory (Ross) is an American author, singer/songwriter, travel enthusiast and author of the father-son memoir, Views from the Cockpit: The Journey of a Son. He spent his early years collecting pens, notepads and interviewing himself in a tape recorder. With an acute awareness for his young age, Ross was eager to point out hypocrisies and character inconsistencies in children and adults through English assignments. If he weren’t keeping his English teachers on their toes for what he would say or write next, he was processing his world through songwriting and music. After two major losses—his father and brother, and several years in corporate America, Ross finds himself pushed to share his art again, now with a clear understanding of its healing ability. Ross ties literature and music together in a unique, heartfelt way by abstracting relatable themes for readers and listeners around the world. In his free time, he enjoys local and international adventures and advocating for the homeless community in his native city Los Angeles.
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