Steve Burgess's book, Who Killed Mom: A Delinquent Son’s Meditation on Family, Mortality, and Very Tacky Candles, is a touching family memoir and homage to his late mother. Burgess, a regular contributor to The Tyee, wrote the book in 2011. This year, it's been made into audiobook format and offered here, free of charge, in two-chapter segments.
In This Series
An Early Gift: A Delinquent Son's Audiobook Memoir
The tale begins with a crisis and a Dickensian voyage though Christmas Past. First of 11.
A Delinquent Son's Audiobook Memoir, Chapters 3 + 4
Wherein Steve Burgess goes to Casablanca but does not meet Ingrid Bergman; and even monsters have back stories. Second part of 11.
A Delinquent Son's Audiobook Memoir, Chapters 5 + 6
Wherein Joan Slorance lives -- and nearly dies -- on the prairies; and later encounters the bouncing football of Fate. Third part of 11.
A Delinquent Son's Audiobook Memoir, Chapters 7 + 8
Wherein a honeymoon on a troop train proves less than ideal. A potential president of the United States arrives on the scene. And the Burgesses enter the Land of the Jolly Green. Fourth of 11.
A Delinquent Son's Audiobook Memoir, Chapters 9 + 10
Wherein the Burgess family arrives in Christmas Town. Whereupon the pressure cooker finally explodes. Fifth of 11.
A Delinquent Son's Audiobook Memoir, Chapters 11 + 12
Who killed Mom? A suspect is ID'd. And subsequently brought to trial. Sixth of 11.
A Delinquent Son's Audiobook Memoir, Chapters 13 + 14
Who killed Grandma? And a meditation on luck. Seventh of 11.
A Delinquent Son's Audiobook Memoir, Chapters 15 + 16
A 50th birthday to remember -- and forget. Plus: Tales from Riverheights Terrace. Eighth of 11.
A Delinquent Son's Audiobook Memoir, Chapters 17 + 18
The parables of Joan Burgess. And the curtain falls on a life well-lived. Ninth of 11.
A Delinquent Son's Audiobook Memoir, Chapters 19 + 20
Life and death on the streets of Rome. And finally, a Japanese vision of Heaven, in a blue and white dress. Tenth of 11.
A Delinquent Son's Audiobook Memoir, Postscript and Acknowledgments
Watching TV with Dad. Acknowledgements. Eleventh of 11.