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Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies
Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Other Four-Letter Words | Michael Ausiello
28 posts | 26 read | 38 to read
In this evocative and gorgeously wrought memoir reminiscent of Rob Sheffields Love Is a Mixtape and George Hodgmans Bettyville, Michael Ausielloa respected TV columnist and founder and editor-in-chief of TVLine.comremembers his late husband, and the lessons, love, and laughter that they shared throughout their fourteen years together. For the past decade, TV fans of all stripes have counted upon Michael Ausiellos insider knowledge to get the scoop on their favorite shows and stars. From his time at Soaps in Depth to his influential stints at TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly to his current role as founder and editor-in-chief of the wildly popular website TVLine.com, Michael has established himself as the go-to expert when it comes to our most popular form of entertainment. What many of his fans dont know, however, is that while his professional life was in full swing, Michael had to endure the greatest of personal tragedies: his husband, Kit Cowan, was diagnosed with a rare and very aggressive form of neuroendocrine cancer. Over the course of eleven months, Kit and Michael did their best to combat the deadly disease, but Kit succumbed to his illness in February 2015. In this heartbreaking and darkly hilarious memoir, Michael tells the story of his harrowing and challenging last year with Kit while revisiting the thirteen years that preceded it, and how the undeniably powerful bond between him and Kit carried them through all manner of difficultyalways with laughter front and center in their relationship. Instead of a tale of sadness and loss, Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies is an unforgettable, inspiring, and beautiful testament to the resilience and strength of true love.
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TheIntrovertedDodoBird
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Pickpick

What a beautiful memoir. How wonderfully peculiar it is that a book about death can be so life-affirming. Oh-so funny, moving, and heartwarming, Ausiello recounts his thirteen-and-a-half year relationship with his husband; an ode to life, love, and loss. Kit's last hurrah through this memoriam is beautiful from the beginning to the very end. I laughed. I wept. I laughed and wept (keep a Kleenex close by). A love story that I shall never forget.

49 likes4 stack adds
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thegirlwiththelibrarybag
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Took myself to the movies tonight, this was a beautiful movie with flawed people who really loved each other… I knew from the trailer that it was going to be a movie that could make me cry - and I was right!

If you do see it in theatres - there is a mid credit scene that is worth sticking around for.

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DavidDiamond
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Pickpick

Michael Ausiello‘s moving and heartfelt memoir about love and loss. I laughed, I cried…I have a new appreciation for Smurfs.

I may have gone through a few tissues.

Ok…many.😢

Liatrek Love the Smurf snow globe ❤️❤️❤️ 2y
DavidDiamond @Liatrek Thanks!! They were wrap gifts that the studio I work for gave out after completion of the first Smurfs movie. 2y
35 likes1 stack add2 comments
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marleed
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Well, I didn‘t see that coming. I pulled a few books from the bottom of my electronic overdrive wish list for this month‘s bookspin. I don‘t remember why I stacked this then, but currently the title looked like a cute, bittersweet romcom. I didn‘t see ‘memoir‘ on that yellow sticker! Cue the tears - great book!

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Cinfhen
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#SoaringScores #ToDieFor Another book on my want to read list (#WTR) Im thinking audio might be a good option 🤔🎧

CrowCAH Ah, another book where the title mentions the main character dies! 5y
88 likes1 comment
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NotCool
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Is it redundant to say that a book about a loved one dying of cancer is sad? It was. But I think this was an important book too. Lots of our illnesses narratives are about miraculous outliers, who beat the odds. Someone, living with all of their might, surviving as long as the doctor predicted is kind of shocking. Be well everyone. And know, if you get sick, illness isn‘t fair and isn‘t your fault.

Nute Thoughtful review! 5y
10 likes1 comment
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crhealey
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Are the pages warped because I spilled my water on it three months ago or because I cried a gallon of tears reading it this weekend? 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Booksblanketsandahotbeverage
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“All told, what we lacked in common interests we more than made up for in snark-filled chemistry.“

'Snark-filled chemistry' is all I'm looking for in a relationship *sigh*

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VanChocStrawberry
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I started this outside yesterday on a beautiful day, which was a good decision because I‘ve cried approx 30 times already.

Booksblanketsandahotbeverage Awe 😢 I just looked it up on Libby and the author reads the audiobook 😱 6y
VanChocStrawberry @BookHoarder32 oh, man...I don‘t know if I could handle that! I‘ve been a reader of Ausiello‘s columns since he worked for EW. He‘s one of the reasons I kept my subscription. I check TVLine nearly every day. I remember when he explained what was happening on TVLine. The book is sad, but it has made me laugh, too! 6y
23 likes2 comments
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RandomBrunette79
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So I've been away for a long while but I'm back and this time I mean business. I've got a pile of new books and I'm ready for 2019!
This is my first book of the year (although I'm simultaneously reading Michelle Obamas Becoming).
It is such a brilliant book. I laughed, a lot. I cried, a lot. I cried so much so in places that I had to stop reading it on the bus ride home! Devastating, funny, warm, honest and with a lot of love.

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Ryles
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Variety of different books I‘m excited to read! Heard some of these were really interesting & good reads🤞❤️📚

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crhealey
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The World Is A Dumpster Fire, So I Went To Barnes And Noble: A Memoir #copingmechanism

BarbaraTheBibliophage Good strategy! 6y
Bklover My answer for every problem! 6y
6 likes2 comments
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Nitpickyabouttrains
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I have loved MIchael Ausiello and his pop culture writing for a while. So when I saw he wrote a book I was very excited. Unlike most of the other writing I have read this book was extremely serious. The hard story of his partner getting sick and dealing with it. It was not what I was expecting but it was beautiful.

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RachLovesTV
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An honest and heart-felt chronicle of not just the last year in the life of Ausiello's beloved husband, Kit, but also the story of their relationship, with all its high and lows. Ausiello doesn't sugarcoat anything - he is upfront about the issues that made their relationship contentious at times. But he also shows how their deep love for one another kept them together through all the dark days, and helped them treasure the bright ones.

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HollyB3
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This book sucked me in from the very first page and it never let go. I was immediately drawn into the honesty of Michael and Kit‘s relationship. They‘d definitely had their ups and downs in their 14 years, but loved one another fiercely. This memoir felt like a love letter, it was beautiful. I laughed, and cried so many damn tears, and it was worth every single one. (This image seems perfect)

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Rainbows4breakfast
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Pickpick

If you want to cry. Read this. Even though it's given away in the title, this book is upsetting to even the most frozen hearts.

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HollyB3
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I wouldn‘t necessarily say I‘m in a book slump, but I keep bouncing between a few different books, reading bits here and there, but not quite settling in, that changed today with this one. If I didn‘t have responsibilities, I swear I would have listened to the whole thing in one go.

11 likes2 stack adds
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SnowEcho
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It tore my heart out and stomped on it. It moved me similarly to when breath becomes air. My mouth agape as I read this testament of someone‘s final days and how their loved ones are - accepting that and in the wake of it. They‘re both different writing styles but very close otherwise to the emotions felt. I can‘t believe Kit is gone. A person who was so real to me, just as Paul was. It‘s enormous and the weight of it simply sticks.

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ReadingEnvy
Bailedbailed

Well... I made it halfway through the audio but I've already lived through someone dying of cancer and I wasn't sure I needed to finish this one. Audio production uneven but still good for fans of Michael Ausiello. My husband will likely finish it.

Tamra I‘ve noticed that I avoid books & movies involving cancer if I know in advance it‘s part of the plot for the same reason. 😑 Too close to home. I wonder how long that‘s going to be the case (3 yrs now) and if the avoidance is something maybe I shouldn‘t be doing. 7y
ReadingEnvy @Tamra sometimes it can be a balm but something about too many similarities in this one, and also it being in audio (no skimming) that made me gobope! 7y
ReadingEnvy (ha ummm nope) 7y
See All 6 Comments
Tamra @ReadingEnvy agreed, skimming comes in handy! 7y
suvata I‘ve read so many sad stories this year. I really need to lighten it up a bit in 2018. 😎 7y
ReadingEnvy @suvata good goal. At least with this one you know that's going on.. sometimes the most shocking is when I'm not expecting it at all... 7y
53 likes6 comments
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ninergrl6
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I had the pleasure of meeting Michael Ausiello today. It was kind of an out-of-body experience, seeing this icon whom I've admired for so long up close and personal. I feel like I *know* him (& Kit & Mister Scooch & Aunt Joan) from reading this memoir and following him on social media. There's so much I wanted to say but we could only chat for a moment, in which we bonded over bygone soaps, obviously. #autobiography #nonfiction #booksigning

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Jen2
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A sweet and funny story!

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amarreth
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Completely amazing read! Michael's writing it hilarious, moving, and emotional, a perfect flow for a memoir about loss and love and cancer. The book follows Michael and his husband, Kit, newly diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. His unflinching honesty about their complicated relationship sets up a gut punch of a book that leaves you laughing and crying in one. It's a must read!

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MrBook
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#TBRtemptation post 6! A heart-breaking, humorous, inspirational memoir about loving, losing, remembrance. Ausiello is a go-to man in the tv business, from working at Soaps in Depth to Entertainment Weekly to TV Guide to his popular website TVLine.com. In his personal life, his late husband, Kit, was diagnosed with aggressive neuroendocrine cancer and succumbed 11 months later. This is their 14 years together. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

JoRead But... what happens to the hero? 😅😅 7y
76 likes7 stack adds1 comment
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ninergrl6
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I would expect no other opening to a memoir written by a tv critic/soap opera fan. #spoileralert #nonfiction #autobiography

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bookishkai
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That was both funnier than expected and sadder than I expected. I enjoyed reading about Michael and Kit's relationship; it was harder than I thought to read the last few chapters about Kit's death, but I recognized a lot from watching my grandfather and my dad both receive in-home hospice care. I think this has a place on any caregiver's shelf, and though it's sad it should also be on your shelf if you love a love story.

Cinfhen Somebody in book club suggested this book the other day. We were wondering if there is material for discussion??? 7y
53 likes1 stack add1 comment
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bookishkai
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The rest of my Friday. My partner is staying at her mom's while she recovers from her fall (our bed is too soft and our couch too low, and I'm limited in my ability to help), so I took this morning and did a little organizing. It feels good. Now I've got sleeping dogs laying on me, so I'm all set.

Libby1 I hope she feels better soon. 💕 7y
Dragon Sorry to hear your partner had a fall, I hope she heals quickly!💐 7y
49 likes1 stack add2 comments
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bookishkai
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Top row is new in. I really need to stop with the new books, but I can't help it. Books just make me happy.

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FantasyChick
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I can't even....this was heartbreaking but also heartwarming. Dark yet light. Funny and sad. I honestly wasn't sure what to feel throughout the entire book. But the thing that stood out for me the most, was the realness that was portrayed in these pages. Real, honest, unsugarcoated life experience. Just blows me away.
Can we take a minute to appreciate the title... I think it's brilliant!
#NetgalleyReads #CancerSucks #GreatTitle

17 likes3 stack adds