What A Father Leaves

“What a Father Leaves” is the story of two men, father and son — each stubborn and determined in his own way, each facing the trials of life with a particular determination — and the way they come to understand and respect each other.

This essay and several others can be found in Revere Beach Elegy: A Memoir of Home and Beyond.

Michael Upchurch of the Seattle Times said “Revere Beach Elegy is an autobiography in ten essays that is sublimely refreshing in its love and generosity. Merullo’s prose, as he outlines the worlds he cherishes, has a luminous subtlety that brings alive rich layers of feeling in an immediate intelligible manner. His eye stays intently trained on how we guide ourselves through life.”

“Revere Beach Elegy is a smart and moving meditation on social class, boundaries and mobility...and much more,” said Ray Suarez of NPR and The Washington Post.

And, the Chicago Tribune had this to say about the memoir, “Merullo has a knack for rendering emotional complexities, paradoxes, or impasses in a mere turn of the phrase.”