Laughing through Life

Larry Moran is the second oldest in a family with ten children, and as readers might imagine, his childhood was rather colorful, and the sense of humor he developed has served him well in every other area of his life. Moran lived an extremely full childhood, with plenty of family adventures with his brothers and sisters in the small town they grew up in. As an adult, Moran has worked as a newspaper reporter and an economist, and he has a variety of fun stories to share from these professions as well as from his adventures in parenting his own children.

Laughing Through Life is Moran’s somewhat fictionalized memoir; some of the stories in these pages are completely true, others are strongly inspired by events in Moran’s life, and others still are almost entirely made up. Readers will enjoy being immersed in the Moran family for a while: sibling dynamics, holiday celebrations, sports, romantic endeavors, and more. The stories are of varying length, and most are not told completely linearly; reading this book is almost like attending a family dinner, where the stories meander here and there, touching on various humorous anecdotes from the past before returning to the theme at hand.

Moran is an excellent author, and he manages to keep readers hooked throughout the entire book. It’s easy to forget that some of these stories are fictionalized, as Moran’s writing style is even and fun throughout it all. Especially noteworthy is the epic tale of an adventurous golf trip for those who are not exceptionally talented at the sport; Moran will have readers laughing as he takes them on a tour through Wales, England, and Scotland, and everyone is sure to enjoy his golf-themed take on Poe’s classic, “The Raven.” Laughing Through Life is a fun collection of stories that will definitely leave readers laughing.