GLASTONBURY

A father attempts to help his sick son fulfill his dream in this literary novel.

A father who spent most of his kids’ childhoods abroad is relieved to finally be back in their lives. He is particularly interested in his middle child, Wyatt. A troublemaker from a young age, 16-year-old Wyatt—under the positive influence of his girlfriend, Emily—is finally putting his energies to positive use: producing electronic dance music. By 20, the young Canadian DJ has songs on the music charts and gets signed to a British record label. His next goal: to play the legendary but hard-to-get-into music festival in Glastonbury, England: “ ‘Maybe one day, I’ll be popular enough to play at Glasto. That’s my dream, I guess.’ His face took on a far-away look” and his father “knew where his mind was—on stage—performing in front of thousands of crazed fans, rain pouring from the sky and mud enveloping the feet of those fanatics.” But his father notices that Wyatt has been suffering from some oddly persistent back pain. When Wyatt finally gets an MRI to see if he has a slipped disc, it reveals that he has bone cancer—and it has already spread to his lungs. He is told, at 21, that he has a year to live. Soon after, he is invited to perform at Glastonbury, but will he live long enough to play the show? Compagna’s prose is crisp and often potent, as here where he describes Wyatt’s father’s tortuous wait in a hospital: “Less than an hour later a nurse guided me down a hall in silence, her shoes making no noise against the linoleum and all conversation replaced by the slow, steady sounds of respirators and monitors. From each door came a slow, steady beeping, the sound of fluids dripping.” The novel is based on a true story, and the visceral emotions that underlie the plot are palpable. As powerful as it is to watch a young man lose his future—and see a family deal with a painful tragedy—the narrative is perhaps too raw, featuring almost hagiographic depictions of Wyatt and Emily. Though touched, readers will likely wonder whether this book would have worked better simply as nonfiction.

A heartbreaking, if messy, tale about a father facing the loss of his son.