I Will Be Complete by Glen David Gold
I love this book. There, I’ve said it. I love it and this is why.
I Will Be Complete is the autobiography that took years for the author to write because he wasn’t quite sure if all the things that happened to him, whilst growing up, were actually true. Well, they are all true and they are all spectacularly bonkers.
Glen David Gold grew up in San Francisco during the liberal 70s. He had an American father who was obsessed by money and had a taste for giving ‘house tours’ to guests, and an English mother, who you could say is slightly unconventional. So far, so normal – until his parents divorce. His father marries for a second time, whilst his mother joins a set of colourful characters that includes thieves, drug dealers and men out to swindle her for all she’s got.
Suddenly, when Gold is twelve, his mother decides to move to New York City with her new man. Young Gold is left to fend for himself, with the occasional drop-in from adults. He gets himself to school, cooks dinner and maintains the home. It is here that we begin to see the damage that both parents are causing him.
Gold takes us along with him as he navigates life through hardships, college, romance, jobs and his constant analysing and testing of his parents. He writes to piece together the fragments of his childhood and to try to understand the strange yet loving mother-son relationship. Should he feel sorry for his mother? Is she worth forgiving? I won’t say much more, except that the ending will leave you a blubbering mess.
Please, please, please read this book. It is an exceptional memoir that is hilarious, bizarre, touching and one that you must read this year.