Children of Alcoholics

I've really enjoyed this ecclectic and different book that we've been reading for class.  Although, it seems that, as Dominic mentioned in our face-off today, every character's father is an alcoholic.  A friend of mine, Jake*, has an alcoholic parent and I analyzed his actions, deficiencies and strenths, comparing them to that of the characters in Everything Matters!  I found that although he has a very realistic approach to things, he is very critical and expects a lot out of people.  At first, I believed that this easily compared him to Junior, but Junior's all-knowing force seems to help him with a sense of self confidence, which Jake paradoxically does not have.  Also, Jake does not easily forgive people for their faults, which parallels him to John Sr., who condemns many of the men with whom he works.  However, I find that Jake seems to have unrealistically high standards, while John Sr. only asks people to do what he believes they should.  In parallel to Debbie, Jake rarely mentions his father, and obviously, yet forgivably, avoids any detail regarding him.  Debbie also avoids her problems, and mentions to as little people as possible about her past.

I always take into account my favorite Serensky quote: "there is a big difference between people who read books and people who don't."  I whole-heartedly agree with her, and would like to reccomend this book to Jake.  He may or may not be mature enough to handle it, which holds me back a little from telling him to read it.  Yet, I know he can learn a lot about himself from doing so.

*Name has been changed