Rob Delaney at First Church Cambridge

Harvard Book Store welcomes ROB DELANEY, BAFTA-winning cocreator and costar of the critically acclaimed Amazon Prime comedy Catastrophe, for a discussion of his highly anticipated new memoir, A Heart That Works. He will be joined in conversation by comedian and actor EUGENE MIRMAN.

A Return to In-Person Events

Harvard Book Store is excited to be back to in-person programming. To ensure the safety and comfort of everyone in attendance, the following Covid-19 safety protocols will be in place at all of our First Church events until further notice:

• Face coverings are required of all staff and attendees when inside the venue. Masks must snugly cover nose and mouth. At venues where refreshments are served, attendees may briefly unmask when actively eating or drinking.

For the time being, we will not be holding author signings at these events, in order to limit close contact. When possible, we will have pre-signed books available for purchase on-site.

Ticketing

Each ticket includes one hardcover copy of A Heart That Works and admission for one. 

Refund Policy: Please note that event ticket purchases are non-refundable and non-returnable.

About A Heart That Works

In 2016, Rob Delaney’s one-year-old son, Henry, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The family had moved from Los Angeles to London with their two young boys when Rob’s wife was pregnant with Henry, their third. The move was an adventure that would bind them even more tightly together as they navigated the novelty of London, the culture clashes, and the funhouse experience of Rob’s fame—thanks to his role as co-creator and co-star of the hit series Catastrophe. Henry’s illness was a cataclysm that changed everything about their lives. Amid the hospital routine, surgeries, and brutal treatments, they found a newfound community of nurses, aides, caregivers, and fellow parents contending with the unthinkable. Two years later, Henry died, and his family watched their world fall away to reveal the things that matter most. 

A Heart That Works is Delaney’s intimate, unflinching, and fiercely funny exploration of what happened – from the harrowing illness to the vivid, bodily impact of grief and the blind, furious rage that followed, through to the forceful, unstoppable love that remains. In the madness of his grief, Delaney grapples with the fragile miracle of life, the mysteries of death, and the question of purpose for those left behind. 

Delaney’s memoir—profound, painful, full of emotion, and bracingly honest—offers solace to those who have faced devastation and shows us how grace may appear even in the darkest times.

Praise for A Heart That Works

“I could have read about Henry for a thousand pages. It is impossible not to share in Delaney’s tenderness, his attention, his anger, his night-black humor, and impossible not to see his son through his eyes: loved, learning, smiling ecstatically. I will turn to this book again and again, to feel deeply and to learn about this world from Henry.” —Patricia Lockwood, author of No One Is Talking About This and Priestdaddy 

“This book is so rich with grief and love and pain and humor and an incandescent, purifying, flame-throwing wrath. Though Delaney can't bring Henry back, he can––and does––show enough of him to the world to make a reader see him a little bit, know him a little bit, and fully love him. What an unbelievable gift.” —Lauren Groff, author of Fates and Furies and Matrix

“I don’t think I've ever read anything before that captures the enormity and power of parental love, how radical it is, how transformative and total.” —Eleanor Catton, author of The Luminaries, winner of the Man Booker Prize