Review: Zig-Zagging

Tom Wilson, Jr’s beloved father was the creator of the Ziggy cartoon, so Tom grew up feeling like Ziggy was his younger brother.  Tom would sit in the basement with his father and create drawings of his own.  Tom attended Miami University and fell in love with Susan, a very spiritual woman.  Tom and Susan settled into a quiet, stable life and had two boys.

When Tom’s father became ill, Tom took over drawing the Ziggy cartoon because he felt like no one else knew Ziggy like he does.   When Susan was diagnosed with breast cancer, Tom felt like his world was falling apart, yet Susan remained rock steady.  Susan fought the cancer for years, but finally succumbed to it and Tom sank into a deep depression.

Zig-Zagging: Loving Madly, Losing Badly. . . How Ziggy Saved My Life by Tom Wilson is the story of Tom’s struggle out of the depths of despair.  This book is full of raw emotion – anger at God, love for his wife, sorrow for his children having to grow up without their mother.  Tom is very honest in sharing his feelings.  The love for his late wife is evident throughout.  His faith in God is too, yet the book doesn’t come across as preachy.  This book would be great for someone who is mourning the death of a loved one or the friend of someone who is mourning the death of a loved one.  It gave me a deeper understanding of the grieving process.  This is one of my favorite passages in the book:

The real superheroes are the single parents doing their best to raise their kids alone.  They’re the faithful husbands, the loving mothers, the understanding friends who are always there in the time of need and crisis.  These superheroes wear no impenetrable suits, yet they never hesitate to face life’s bullets, even thought their only armor consists of the scars from previous battles often fought but not always won. In spite of their human imperfections, or maybe because of them, they never think twice about doing “the right thing,” no matter what the odds against them.

Zig-Zagging: Loving Madly, Losing Badly . . . How Ziggy Saved My Life by Tom Wilson is published by HCI Books.

This review is part of a TLC Book Tour.  Here’s the schedule for the tour:

• Wednesday, March 4th: Traveling Through Time and Space
• Thursday, March 5th: Anniegirl1138
• Monday, March 9th: Bookfoolery and Babble
• Tuesday, March 10th: Widows Quest
• Wednesday, March 11th: Not Quite What I Had Planned
• Thursday, March 12th: Reading, Writing, and Retirement
• Monday, March 16th: Learning to Live
• Tuesday, March 17th: Book Addiction
• Wednesday, March 18th: Confessions of a Book-a-Holic
• Thursday, March 19th: Peeking Between the Pages
• Friday, March 20th: Beth Fish Reads
• Monday, March 23rd: Literary Menagerie
• Tuesday, March 24th: Joyfully Retired
• Wednesday, March 25th: Madeleine’s Book Blog
• Thursday, March 26th: Texas Red Books
• Friday, March 27th: Bermuda Onion
• Monday, March 30th: Should Be Reading