The Longest Trip Home: A Memoir

“As he did in Marley, Grogan makes readers feel they have a seat at the family dinner table….4 stars.”

John Grogan, author of the phenomenal #1 New York Times bestseller, Marley & Me, once again takes readers into his past, his memories, and his heart in The Longest Trip Home—a funny and poignant memoir of faith, family, and identity. A New York Times bestseller in its own right, The Longest Trip Home has earned glowing accolades from the critics (“Genuinely heartrending,” —New York Times “Wry and witty,” —Washington Post; “Entertaining, funny, and, best of all, always honest at its core,” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch). And, just as Marley & Me was more than simply “a dog book,” John Grogan’s Longest Trip is much, much more than your typical story of a boy’s coming-of-age.

How does a boy honor the parents he loves while breaking from the faith that defines them?

• A Coming-of-Age Story: From childhood pranks and first loves in 1960s suburban Detroit to forging an identity outside the confines of a loving but strict home.
• A Crisis of Faith: A deeply personal look at the struggle to reconcile a devout Catholic upbringing with the questions and doubts that come with growing older.
• A Heartwarming Family Memoir: Filled with the hilarious and heartfelt stories that made Marley & Me a beloved bestseller, this is a book for anyone who has ever loved, and been driven crazy by, their family.
• Aging Parents: A tender, unflinching portrait of the final years of his parents’ lives, and the journey of a son stepping into the role of caregiver for the father who always cared for him.

Meet the Grogans

Before there was Marley, there was a gleefully mischievous boy navigating his way through the seismic social upheaval of the 1960s. On the one side were his loving but comically traditional parents, whose expectations were clear. On the other were his neighborhood pals and all the misdeeds that followed. The more young John tried to straddle these two worlds, the more spectacularly, and hilariously, he failed. Told with Grogan's trademark humor and affection, The Longest Trip Home is the story of one son's journey into adulthood to claim his place in the world. It is a story of faith and reconciliation, breaking away and finding the way home again, and learning in the end that a family's love will triumph over its differences.

“As he did in Marley, Grogan makes readers feel they have a seat at the family dinner table. He’s now a nonpracticing Catholic, but here-to wonderful effect-he confesses all.” - People

“John Grogan is more like Marley than he might want to believe. An affable, unassuming rabble-rouser, the author who penned a bestseller about his goofy dog gets up to some hilarious antics of his own ... The resulting story is full of humor [and] poignant scenes. - BookPage

“From the author of Marley & Me (2005), this is an extraordinary memoir of estrangement and reconciliation.” - Booklist

“Grogan’s memoir of his journey for identity is akin to Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance.” - Library Journal

“With his telltale humor and poignant observations about life and our humanity, John Grogan delivers another emotional wallop here. THE LONGEST TRIP HOME is a must read for anyone who has questioned their faith, sought to understand their identity, and loved their family. In other words, everyone.” - Ann Hood, author of Comfort: A Journey Through Grief and The Knitting Circle

“As he did in Marley, Grogan makes readers feel they have a seat at the family dinner table. He’s now a nonpracticing Catholic, but here—to wonderful effect—he confesses all.” - Teen People Book Club

“Wry and witty. . . [a] full-hearted and worthy memoir.” - Washington Post

“As he did in Marley, Grogan makes readers feel they have a seat at the family dinner table. He’s now a nonpracticing Catholic, but here—to wonderful effect—he confesses all.” - People Magazine, 4 stars

“A hilarious and touching memoir of his childhood in suburban Detroit. . . In this tenderly told story, Grogan considers the first between the family he’s made and the family that made him— and how to bridge the two.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Genuinely heartending. . .Grogan invests these events with deeply felt humanity and pathos.” - Janet Maslin, New York Times