I Can Only Give You Everything

by Bradford Tatum

I CAN ONLY GIVE YOU EVERYTHING explores the wondrous and unusual way nine-year-old Chloe Taggert not only handles the grief of losing her mother to breast cancer, but embarks on a journey to healing.

Confused and still hurting from their recent loss, not to mention the prospect of raising his young daughter all on his own, Brian is unsure why his daughter wants his wife’s favorite shoes, oncology reports and other precious items. But his caution turns to a healing kind of heartbreak when he not only sees but feels what Chloe has done with them. She builds The Mommy Machine, a cocoon-like soft sculpture made up of her mother’s most cherished things that has the incredible ability to conjure her loving essence. After a chance meeting with Brian’s old art rep, Carly, what he initially saw as a way toward personal healing is seen to have enough potential to perhaps impact the post-modernist art world. Determined to ease his daughter’s grief at any cost, Brian makes the first of several questionable choices when he decides to take Chloe out of school to go on a tour of small art galleries with her sculpture. Father and daughter soon find themselves on the surreal road to national prominence, a road fraught with emotional confrontations, unlikely friendships, and impossible parenting choices. With the emotional power of Nicholas Sparks and a touch of a child’s heroic magic, I CAN ONLY GIVE YOU EVERYTHING is a journey of the impossible fueled by the healing power of a mother’s love.

Genres: New Adult, Fiction, Contemporary

239 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Bradford Tatum’s award winning debut novel I Can Only Give You Everything was published in 2010. His second novel, Only the Dead Know Burbank was published by HarperCollins in 2016 and received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly. His book Gray Matters has been used as a text book in various college business communication courses.



Bradford began his career as an actor appearing in numerous television shows and movies such as 20th Century Fox’s submarine comedy DOWN PERISCOPE, Disney’s POWDER and HBO’s WESTWORLD.



He was a staff writer for Dick Wolf on the NBC series DEADLINE and has written and directed two award winning independent features. He has won an Alfred P. Sloan grant for his written work as well as sold pitches to various production companies.

Reviews

[Kelsey Wilcox]

MUST READ OR WILL EXPLODE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this as a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. The concept was intriguing to me; a newly-widowed dad trying to adjust to the transition of losing his wife and doing what he thinks is best for his daughter. The book was raw and real - not only dealing with the grief that a nuclear family faces in losing one of their integral parts, but also with the expectations that others have about "moving on" after death and what grief is supposed to look like.

Unfortunately, I just didn't connect with it. At some points I felt like I was being left out of the entire story and at other points I didn't know what the purpose was of what I was reading. That being said, another aspect that kept me from connecting with the story and characters was the tone and dense language which leads me to believe that perhaps I might have just been the wrong kind of reader for this book.

[Rachel (aka Ms4Tune) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a it's-not-the-book-it's-me read. The storyline followed a father (Brian) and his 9 year old daughter (Chloe) after the loss of their wife/mother. In an attempt to deal with her grief Chloe builds a 'Mommy Machine', a sculpted igloo that encapsulated the items that linked to her Mum and more importantly the smell of her mother. When a exhibition/sales women stumbles upon it, the artwork is taken to be displayed and Chloe and Brian embark on a tour to showcase the work.

I found it beautiful how the father thought he was coping with his loss but spent a lot of time relying on his daughter to make the decisions and in a sense guide him on this journey. As a holiday season arrived I found I welled up as I experience their sense of loss a fresh.

I struggled however with the writing, at some points I felt confused as to who was talking and although I found some descriptions so beautiful, for example

'Scrap fires burn the brightest. And this one, kindled with mailbox circulars and pot pie boxes delivered in sheer theatricality what it could never promise in longevity.'

I found some a little OTT.

I must make this clear that my rating is down to my experience of the book. I just didn't understanding some of the words and that held me back, and I couldn't relate to the relationship shown between father and daughter because it was so different to that of mine with my father. I'm sure to the right person this book will be amazing. It just wasn't for me.

[Autumn Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light-hearted adventure of daughter and father after her mother dies from cancer. While not my usual fare, it kept me reading until the end. In order to cope with grief the daughter creates a "Mommy Machine," comprised of her smell, which launches her into the art world at the age of nine.

While the writing flowed smoothly and the dialog between daughter and father was original and refreshing, the book suffers from a lack of conflict. Every possible danger that comes up is easily solved in the span of a chapter or two. I would have liked more emphasis to be placed upon the mommy machine itself, and the implications of it, or the grief that the daughter goes through. Instead it's focused on travel and the sudden fame, so any deeper themes get lost.

[Kathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

That's two one star books in a row! Not good. I finished this during our initial travels to Denmark. I really didn't like the personality of the narrator so maybe my rating is not fair. I just didn't like it much, so that's that.

[Naveen Raju · Rating 5 out of 5]

a must read book........

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, at least the Kindle version, needed a better editor. I have never seen so many typos/errors: form instead of from, wrong use of your, you're, many many errors.

[Emily Dentler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book! Quirky, fun, and emotional.