This turned out to be a pretty good book; I'm glad I stuck with it. Interesting premise but I wish he'd developed some of the side plots a little more. I'd recommend this book.... ( )

When I heard the author preview the book at another author's book event I thought the book would be entertaining. I was wrong about it just being entertaining... This book is fantastic! It made me laugh, it made me cry, mostly it made me think about the relationships in my life. Worth every minute I spent reading it. ( )

All of me, why not take all of me?

The Heart Does Not Grow Back: A Novel by Fred Venturini (Picador, $16).

He’s not quite the sacrificial hero Samson, but Dale Sampson has a lot to offer: himself. He can’t quite go all the way—Dale’s no Christ-figure—but he can come darn close.

In Fred Venturini’s The Heart Does Not Grow Back, Dale finds out—after a nasty bullying incident in high school—that his body can regenerate itself. He could be quietly altruistic, but Dale’s a bit of a schlub, and he’s got this friend, Mack, who’s full of ideas.

Before you know it, he’s also got a reality-TV show, The Samaritan, in which he donates organs and body parts to needy people.

Fame, fortune and superhero status sound too good to be true, and they are, as Dale is forced to reckon with his own moral compass. Despite the supernatural overtones, this is more speculative literary fiction, drawing attention to the question of altruism and the power of our own negative feelings about ourselves to drive charity. Venturini overlays the question of how we are to act in the world as well as on our feelings with comedy, but the core of this novel is all heart.

Reviewed on Lit/Rant: www.litrant.tumblr.com ( )

Review Posted from Tenacious Reader: http://www.tenaciousreader.com/2014/11/02/the-heart-does-not-grow-back-by-frank-...

I couldn’t put this book down. I’ll start with that. And when I went to set up my review for it, and I had to assign it a genre, I really didn’t know what to put it as. The closest thing I can compare it to genre-wise is Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. That is science fiction, but the story is not really so much about the science fiction aspect of it, rather the science-fiction element is more of what sets up the story, puts the characters in the situations. I’m sure there are other examples as well, but this one sprang to mind. The Heart Does Not Grow Back is very similar in that respect. Human regeneration. Is that science fiction? I guess it is as it certainly isn’t factual science. And yes, there would not be a story without that element. But the story is more about the people, about relationships, hardships, healing and surviving. It’s about how even if you can regenerate your internal organs, there is more that needs to heal to really feel whole.

In 6th grade Dale Sampson is a quiet outsider. He spends his time alone, sitting by himself at recess. But a turn of events makes him unlikely best friends with Mack Tucker, the boy every boy wants to be and the boy every girl wants to date. They both have the ability to see each other for who they really are and not who they are defined to be by their reputations. Dale has found a true friend in Mack, but even as years go by, he still seems isolated from the rest of his peers.

There are a couple of incidents where there is some evidence of Dale’s ability to heal, but not until he is faced with real tragedy is the true extent of his ability really understood. There are so many ways a story could go with a character that can regenerate body parts. The author could turn him into some sort of famed stunt man who takes real bullets to get more realistic footage, they could make him a daring superhero who runs into fires to save kittens and babies and old people. Most of the things I can think of would take it to a more action-movie style. This is not that. I don’t want to say too much about the path it does take, but I loved it. It does examine a bit how it ‘should’ be used, is there some sort of responsibility on his part to do more because of his ‘gift’?

This book is definitely dark. I really liked Dale, he has a wonderful sense of dark and sarcastic humor, but have to admit he is not a happy protagonist, he is awkward and uncomfortable. He is also borderline obsessive about relationships that never even existed. But that’s the thing. This book really highlights that healing is about so much more than just tissue repair. Dale is damaged and broken despite being a ‘superhero’. Highly recommend it for those who enjoy dark, character driven stories. ( )

BIG disappointment. The novel squanders a fascinating premise in the same way that the lead character squanders a remarkable gift. He's an adolescent when the book begins, and though he ages into his 20s, both his behavior and the writing remain adolescent. And there isn't a believable (or likeable) person in the entire book. It was a waste of my time, but at least it was a fast read. ( )