How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets

A struggling musician suddenly finds himself father to a teenage boy, in this “compelling” novel by the author of The Art of Racing in the Rain (Seattle Post-Intelligencer).

Fathers never forget seeing their kids for the first time. But Evan is greeting his son, Dean, fourteen years late. Dean’s mother ran off to another city long ago—and now that she’s passed away, Dean has arrived in Seattle. Evan becomes a single parent in an instant.

Back in the day, he was lead guitarist for a hot band with a hit single. At thirty-one, he gets by as a guitar instructor to middle-aged guys, and does menial work in a music shop. He also struggles with his feelings about being viewed as a slacker by his heart-surgeon dad and his successful-lawyer brother—as well as with the epilepsy that could cause a seizure at any moment.

Now, with Dean in the picture, some things are going to have to change—and both of them will have some growing up to do—in this “engrossing family drama” from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain and A Sudden Light (Publishers Weekly).

Bonus content: Incudes a conversation between Garth and his editor, Bryan Devendorf, drummer for The National