This is a beautifully written memoir about a grandfather's love for his grandson. Dave Kindred (the grandfather) is a well-know sportswriter who has always been close with his twin grandsons Jared and Jacob. The twin boys move around during their childhood and sometimes they live close to Dave and other times they're far away, but their bond never diminishes. After high school Jared decides to leave his home and travel across America by illegally hopping on freight trains. He meets other "hobos" and slowly descends into the pit of alcoholism as he zig-zags across the country drinking and having fun with the people he meets along the way. Jared tries to hide his alcoholism but his family knows he is drinking a lot. He has many brushes with death and is in and out of the hospital as his body deteriorates from the constant drinking. Sadly, it doesn't end well for Jared.

Dave Kindred writes this story about Jared from both his perspective and from interviews with friends of Jared's that he sought out and interviewed. He paints a realistic picture of what it's like to be a "travelin kid" (something I never knew existed before this) and he gives enough information about the science of addiction so that the reader understands the whole picture of Jared's short life. It is a heartbreaking yet beautiful story that I could not put down.

Memoir of a grandfather trying to figure out how his cherubic, exhuberant grandson grew up to be a train-hopping alcoholic hobo. This is a story of a man's desperation to find answers to something there can be no answer to- why certain people are destined to addiction and danger despite supposedly fortuitous upbringing.

The story rambles. Part biography of the narrator, part history of his family and his son becoming a father, part addiction memoir told by the friends the alcoholic grandson travels with. The story jumps around between hobo culture and nuclear family memories.

After awhile the stories became redundant to me. I never got a sense of any of the characters' true personalities except the grandson, who seemed troubled and depressed despite being overwhelmingly lauded by all who knew him as a positive, joyful person.

In the acknowledgements section in the back of this book, the author writes that he "wanted this book to be the best I could make it." I wish I could convey to the author (David Kindred) what a fabulous job he did in telling about the life of his deceased grandson, Jared. Jared left home and led a life of riding the rails, drinking excessively, living on the streets, and leading a lifestyle so foreign to anything Kindred was familiar with. Yet what a gift, that he was able to learn what a giving a loving heart Jared had! He did the work, (so painful at times) of talking to friends of Jared, trying to see him through their eyes, and trying to find out what made him 'tick' and what made him choose this lifestyle. (Kindred also did a great job of explaining addiction - my eyes were truly opened to things about addiction I never realized before,) . This book had so much heart and love in it.! Unforgettable.

At just 18 years old, Jared Kindred left home and began a journey to see all parts of America, by freight train cars.

Leaving his family to ride the rails, Jared became addicted to alcohol and lived like a homeless person. Disappearing for months on end and checking in by phone sporadically, Jared – in those short communications, would say he was fine, that he loved living free, and oftentimes, needed money. His worried family never stopped loving him, but that was not enough to persuade him to return home.

David Kindred, for the love of his grandson, seeks out the truth of how Jared lived his life. Through the eyes of these freight train car riders who knew Jared, Kindred reveals a world of random drifters that become transient, temporary family to each other. Traveling together, the connection lasts until the next stop of the freight train car. Most have been on their own for years, having cut themselves off from their family and the norm of traditional living, while others are just experiencing a troubling time and eventually, go home. Those are the lucky ones.

This poignantly written homage to his grandson is full of fond memories, unconditional love, and healing after a sorrowful time of loss.

Thank you to NetGalley and Perseus Books, PublicAffairs, for the read of David Kindred’s, Leave Out the Tragic Parts, A Grandfather’s Search for a Boy Lost to Addiction.

Opinions expressed in my reviews are my own.

I hate to say it but the author was too close to the subject of this book to write about this in a compelling way.

I knew going into this book it there wouldn't be a happy ending but I wanted to read it anyway. I cried for a little boy then cried for the young man he had become. This story was so complete and the writing so good you just couldn't put it down, you wanted to read about everyone and the stories would make you feel so much and before you knew it, tears were falling. In the end, it shows you that addiction affects everyone, not just the person addicted. This will stick with me for a long, long time.