Critic Reviews
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In this deeply emotional memoir, a longtime ESPN writer reflects on the suicide of his son Max and delves into how their complicated relationship led him to see grief as love.
In February 2015, Ivan Maisel received a call that would alter his life forever: his son Max's car had been found abandoned in a parking next to Lake Ontario. Two months later, Max's body would be found in the lake.
There'd been no note or obvious indication that Max wanted to harm himself; he'd signed up for a year-long subscription to a dating service; he'd spent the day he disappeared doing photography work for school. And this uncertainty became part of his father's grief. I Keep Trying to Catch His Eye explores with grace, depth, and refinement the tragically transformative reality of losing a child. But it also tells the deeply human and deeply empathetic story of a father's relationship with his son, of its complications, and of Max and Ivan's struggle--as is the case for so many parents and their children--to connect.
I Keep Trying to Catch His Eye is a stunning, poignant exploration of the father and son relationship, of how our tendency to overlook men's mental health can have devastating consequences, and how ultimately letting those who grieve do so openly and freely can lead to greater healing.
New book DOGLAND, on the Westminster Dog Show, out in April '24. Preorder now! Host of SOUTHBOUND podcast @wfae. Proud spouse of @alixfelsing.
New SouthBound is out! Today's guest is college football writer @Ivan_Maisel ... topics include Southern football, NIL and Steve Spurrier's attention span. We also talk about his brilliant book, I KEEP TRYING TO CATCH HIS EYE, about the death of his son. https://t.co/736x9HmrFV
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Awesome work @Ivan_Maisel! We're delighted to inform you that "I Keep Trying to Catch His Eye" made it to the list of best Grief books of all time! https://t.co/RYis2tjfOA
Now in softcover: I Keep Trying to Catch His Eye (Hachette), on my late son and how I learned to carry my grief.
The culmination of @FairfieldPubLib One Book One Town is tonight at 7 p.m. EDT when my longtime friend @ArmenKeteyian will moderate as we discuss I Keep Trying to Catch His Eye. For anyone who can't be at @FairfieldU Quick Center, here's a link: https://t.co/XaFr1Z8aBW
"An intimate chronicle of abiding love."
--Kirkus"For those who read this work, we see Max as he was. We see a family that makes the best they can through a time of grief. And we see that the human spirit, the will to both hold on and move on are both valid and necessary. And in that final understanding we find a way into each day's new dawn. And for that and so much more, I cannot recommend this book enough."
--Jay Paterno