Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Other Four-Letter Words Hardcover – September 12, 2017

This book was so good. I watched the movie just browsing and was intrigued into reading the book. This is a book that stays with you way after reading it. So beautifully done you laugh, you cry you even cringe at times so amazing. The movie missed or changed sooo many pivotal parts that after reading the book the movie was extremely off and got everything totally wrong in my eyes. If you do dare watch the movie watch it first or you’re gonna be fuming watching it after the book bc it’s that far off.

Absolutely Amazing book!!!! This book will bring smiles along with tears.

February 3, 2023A memoir about love, loss, and everything in between. This book jumps between the courtship and the present-day cancer diagnosis of this remarkable couple.I do not read memoirs, I read dairies, and letters but not a structured book about a life. To be honest I am not a big reader of nonfiction books. This one made my list after watching the movie it was based on. I loved the movie but as usual, I love the book more.This book destroyed me, I cried my eyes out. The courage and love that Michael writes about his late husband is just beautiful.I found myself hoping, even while knowing how it would end, that Kit would miraculously survive and beat cancers ass.I lost my mom to breast cancer so it was a difficult book to read, but the story and their love, both the ups and downs of their relationship pulled me in.The best part is the final chapter where Michael writes a fast forward where they are together as always. Perhaps it was the heaven Kit had promised to get ready for Michael, I hope so.Read this book it will make you cry but you will love it.

I knew about this story but the book is so beautifully written. It was so real about the struggle of cancer and those that love them.

It's been a while since a book made me cry like this. I think I would have liked Kit. I've been reading Michael for years in entertainment circles. But it wasn't until I saw the trailer for the movie version that I opened the ebook I'd purchased quite some time ago. There is a terrific sense of love and pain throughout the book. Not all the tears I shed were from the heartaches.And I'm finishing it on the morning of when I'll be seeing a sneak preview of the film starring Jim Parsons as Michael and Ben Aldridge as Kit...Sally Field as his mom too. With only the trailer to compare right now, it seems that they did a very faithful adaptation. Right down to the scene blowing bubbles.( perhaps a little too much of the other c-word though even if there is a personal connection)

I have followed Michael Ausiello’s work for years; he always had the best “Bones” and “Gilmore Girls” scoop. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel reading about his personal life though, so this book sat in my digital “want to read” pile for a while. With the buildup of press for the movie, I finally decided to dive in, and I’m so glad I did. This memoir had more heart than nearly any one I’ve ever read, and it was written in such a way that I felt like I was there with Mike and Kit on any given day. The cancer journey they went on - while unique to them - is unfortunately a relatable one, and by the end, I felt as if I had lost my friend too. Throughout the span of 300+ pages, I laughed, I cried, I hoped, I feared, and, by the end, I thoroughly wished it wasn’t a memoir, but instead a work of fiction. If this has been in your “to be read” pile, start it today. You won’t want to put it down. I am looking forward to seeing the movie soon.

Books in the biography/memoir genre are not my typical "go to" when picking a book out to read. In fact, the only ones I've ever read have always been ones recommended to me by friends. I recently joined a book club, and this was the selected title for the month, so that's why I read this. I had absolutely no idea who the author or the person the book was written about was, before reading the book. So with that all being said, take my opinion about it as a truly unbiased opinion.The book itself wasn't bad. I really enjoyed the openness and honesty that the author told his love story. I say "love story" because that's really what I walked away feeling like this book was largely about. Yes, it is also about his partner/husband being diagnosed with cancer and their journey through this together, but it was also a history of their relationship and how it grew/changed over the years. I also really enjoyed his writing style. He writes as if you and him were sitting in a bar having drinks together and he was just sharing the story of him and Kit to you. So it was very easy and quick to read. I even giggled at times, because they (the author & his husband) have dark senses of humor, which I love.Would I recommend this book? Probably only to someone who just really LOVES reading biography/memoir type of books, and even then...I'm not really sure if I would or not. Here's why: first off, their love story isn't really all that different than any other person's love story out there. 2 people, both with some baggage, some skeletons in the closet, a lot of insecurities, etc., meet...fall in love in this crazy messed up world...have ups and downs just like every relationship...work through them..but unfortunately, they don't get the happily ever after they want because one of them dies way too soon. Except for the fact that I guess both the author & his husband are somewhat slightly "famous", their relationship isn't anything phenomenal or special by any means, except to them I'm sure.The other thing that leaves me feeling meh about this book, and probably the only thing I can be accused of being biased about, is...he's not the only person that's lost a loved one, and his husband isn't the first person to ever die of cancer. There! I said it! Let the haters hate me now. Here's the thing...I am a pediatric oncology & bone marrow transplant nurse. I see children, teenagers and young adults, on a daily basis, fighting for their lives too. The fact that his husband died in his 40's, after he grew up to be an adult, have an amazing career (from the sounds of it in the book), and meet the love of his life...I have a hard time sympathizing with this, when I see little people who will NEVER make it to adulthood, have a career or meet the love of their lives. I'm not heartless, because I hate that Kit died to this horrible disease. I hate that anyone dies from cancer, period. But I just didn't feel like there was anything really worthy of writing a book about, in regards to the author & his husband's story. Perhaps, it helped him heal, writing all of this and telling it, I don't know...I probably just sound like a jerk now anyways so I'll shut up. lolOne thing I will add though is that if you HAVE lost someone to cancer or even currently going through something similar with a loved one, you probably won't want to read this book. It'll probably hit too close to home for you, because as I said earlier, it is very open, honest and candid about dealing with this illness, and it ain't pretty!

Excellent book that tells the story of a gay couple who truly love each other. The book tells so much more than the movie does. Michael takes care of his terminally husband Kit right to his demise. If you enjoyed the movie you will love the book.

This book grabbed my attention from the first page until the last.It made me laugh, cry, and think about what is real and what is important in life.I have not seen the movie based on this book. Maybe one day I'll watch it, not sure.If you like romantic fiction and 'happy ever after'; well, this may not be the book for you.If you like a story about real, flawed people with genuine love, jealousy, anger, loss, and even hope.. and are willing to risk crying (because you will cry), over a couple who deserved so much better. Then buy this book.If you watched the movie, buy this book and listen to the words of the man that lived the story.. I have no doubt it will enhance whatever the movie did.I love this book; it reminded me about what really is important.

Charting the course of an entire relationship, from its fairytale highs to its lowest ebbs, this is a searingly honest, profoundly moving, deeply sad and yet at times hugely funny account of love not only surviving, but thriving against the odds. At times it is easy to forget that this is a memoir, not a work of fiction, and that its two 'leads' are (or in the case of the eponymous hero were) real people, but that is testament to author Michael Ausiello's skill as a storyteller - one who has a strong sense of narrative and what works on the page to draw the reader in.Ausiello is never manipulative, however: being this open about his life and the 13 years he spent with his partner (latterly husband) Kit before his untimely death makes that impossible. While crafting the story cleverly, he never shies away from telling it like it is, giving events an undeniable raw edge that is both challenging and gratifying. That he does so with his heart on his sleeve, never trading on mawkishness, but giving us everything, warts and all, is to his credit. And also what makes it so sad and so life-affirming simultaneously.This is only the second book in my life I've read with tears in my eyes, and not just because I identify so much with the author (having lost a loved one to cancer myself, and also being a gay man of the same age in a similar relationship and with similar hang-ups). It simply touches the heart, and I defy any reader not to be affected by it. From its quieter domestic moments to its more confrontational scenes, through to its heartbreaking but beautiful and unexpectedly hopeful final chapters in the wake of Kit's death and flash-forward coda of a life never lived, it is as transformative an experience for the reader as it clearly was for those involved.

Way more detailed than the movie. Loved the book so much more!

Thank you to Michael for sharing his story with us.