So many questions are left unanswered when a loved one dies. This book takes you on a journey of a dad. Who absolutely loved his adopted son. He’s left to explore his sons things to find the answers he’s looking for. Was a interesting perspective on his perspective on his sons life.

Review of Searching for Steve by Joel Harris (posted to NetGalley 1/28/23)

“Searching for Steve” is a memoir about a father and the adopted son he lost far too soon. Against a backdrop of grief and quiet personal demons and curiosity about Steve’s biological parents, the author tries to come to terms with who his son—a source of immense love and pride as well as worry and reflection—really was. “Searching for Steve” combines the author’s own memories with his son’s teaching journals, fragments of a novel Steve was slowly writing, and condolence letters written by Steve’s Nicaraguan students and colleagues after his death.

Through the telling of his story, Steve emerges as a kind, brilliant, loving, and idealistic young man who believed in the power of knowledge to improve our world, and who desperately wanted to do his part by sharing his passion and knowledge of history with others. Despite inklings of mild friction between a more rigid-minded father and his thoughtful, flexible son, the memoir chronicles the deep love between the two and their trust in and enjoyment of each other.

With the exception of his devotion to and grief over his son, the author keeps his emotions tightly in check, with the result that tiny truths dropped quietly—inadvertently? —here and there in the story land like flash-bombs, briefly and brilliantly illuminating the depth of the author’s darker feelings (i.e. regarding his first wife; his son’s dog).

The first quarter to third of the book was a slower, more difficult read for me as the author rapidly shifted time periods and tenses with no obvious pattern or goal. It seemed as if he was searching for a way into telling a story he found overwhelming. The story grew clearer and more compelling with the introduction of Steve’s teaching journals, which were fascinating both as a glimpse into the challenges of teaching and as a glimpse into Steve’s own hope and determination and creativity.

It was an honor and a pleasure to get to know Steve through his journals and the recollections of his father and students. His was a heart, an intellect and a spirit worth remembering, and I’m glad his father undertook the difficult task of sharing him with us.


NOTE: I would like to share this review on Goodreads (as Laura Moher) once “Searching for Steve” has a page there.

This is always my go to sort of book and I read them as often as I find them but this one just didn't work for me. It was too muddled and hard to understand. Unfortunately I just didn't feel connected. Many thanks for the opportunity to read it.