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Pasta Mike: A Story of Friendship & Loss

av Andrew Cotto

MedlemmarRecensionerPopularitetGenomsnittligt betygOmnämnanden
642,615,901 (3.75)2
Mike O'Shea and Andy Cotto knew each other their entire lives. Born days apart on the same block, baptized in the same water, the two friends were inseparable growing up and into adulthood. After celebrating their 40th birthdays together, Mike falls ill and dies shortly after. The impact on Andy is enormous, and he spirals into a depression that threatens everything he holds dear. Through memory and support, Andy is able to reconcile his grief and appreciate the power of male friendship and the beauty of life. Pasta Mike is a testimony to the bonds men share and the vulnerabilities beneath the stoic surface.… (mer)
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You might be excused for thinking that Pasta Mike is a work of non-fiction, as the main characters Andrew Cotto, and Mike O'Shea, are the names of the author and his one-time best friend. But as Andy Cotto said at a book reading I attended, he considers the work fiction because some of the elements of the story are made up. But make no mistake, the whole story is indeed based on his friendship with the real Mike and his untimely passing at age 40. The book traces their friendship to before they were even born - their moms lived a block from one another in Queens, NY, and became friends while pregnant. They remained "bosom buddies" throughout their childhoods, teenage years, and adulthood. The book is a tribute to Mike, who was a physically massive man and a larger-than-life personality who "all the girls wanted to date and all the boys wanted to be friends with." But more than that, it seriously explores not just friendship but the abrupt and tragic loss of it. Mike's death sends Andy into a spiral of alcohol, grief, and depression that are earnestly and painfully explored. This sadness is also counterbalanced by the joy of shared adventure, humor, and jokes. I did find it sometimes hard to keep track of the timeline of events, especially between the 90s and early 2000s when Andy left his job working for a CD manufacturer in his early 30s to attend a writing program at The New School and a decade later when he obtained a position teaching writing there. Also, the ending seems to wrap up things up a little too nicely and quickly. ( )
  OccassionalRead | Apr 26, 2022 |
As soon as I saw the mention of Talk Space in Cotto's book, I knew this would be a hard read. While Pasta Mike is supposed to be fictional it reads as one hundred percent reality. The first person narrative makes the reader feel as though Cotto himself is sitting down and talking, talking, talking about his best friend, Mike. Like a one man play or a nonstop monologue, it read so real that I refused to believe any of it was imagination. Grief is a hard mountain to climb and Cotto does not shy away from the struggle or the damage that struggle can do. The writing flows easily and fast and, in my opinion, Pasta Mike was over too soon. Cotto could have filled one hundred more pages with memories of Mike. ( )
  SeriousGrace | Mar 1, 2022 |
This is such a heartfelt story about friendship - a lifelong friendship. The author’s words are so descriptive I felt like I had met Mike and Andrew. It’s definitely worth the couple hours of your time it takes to read. You will come away even more thankful for your close friends. ( )
  toothpick1 | Feb 26, 2022 |
I received a digital copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

In Pasta Mike, Cotto does a fantastic job of showing grief, and how people (yes, men too) grieve differently. The fictional Mike certainly seemed to be a good friend and good person, so the loss seemed genuine and deep from Andy's perspective. Showing the mental health toll that a significant loss brings is important, and feels poignant especially now - the validation that this loss need not be a family member even more so. Andy's narration takes a casual, readable tone, which made it easy for me to read through the book in a day between commuting and lunch breaks, and I think it helped the reader get a better understanding of Andy because it stuck to only his perspective.

That being said, it seemed like the book didn't know what it wanted to be - a somewhat-fictionalized memoir, fiction inspired by real events, or fiction entirely. There were several points where I wished there had been a close scene instead of a distant summary of events, and while this improved as the story went on, I almost wished that the entire book consisted of scenes. Granted, that would make this a longer book and would force the author to choose which route to take with the story, but I think ultimately it would have made for a more fulfilling read. As it stands, while I'm glad that the ending results in what appears to be an open but happy resolution, it felt like an attempt to quickly wrap things up, and because the read itself was so fast, I found myself wanting more of just about everything.

If you're looking for a realistic, honest view of grief - especially from a male perspective centering around a non-family member - this is a good candidate. It's clear that whatever parts of the book were inspired by Cotto's actual life have had a large impact on him, and I appreciate that the reader has been given this inside look at the repercussions of such an intense loss. ( )
  bumblybee | Feb 8, 2022 |
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Mike O'Shea and Andy Cotto knew each other their entire lives. Born days apart on the same block, baptized in the same water, the two friends were inseparable growing up and into adulthood. After celebrating their 40th birthdays together, Mike falls ill and dies shortly after. The impact on Andy is enormous, and he spirals into a depression that threatens everything he holds dear. Through memory and support, Andy is able to reconcile his grief and appreciate the power of male friendship and the beauty of life. Pasta Mike is a testimony to the bonds men share and the vulnerabilities beneath the stoic surface.

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