Tag Archives: “Beautiful Children”

UPDATE: The Bock Family Benefit is SOLD OUT!!!

Remember our post about The World’s Most Literary Rent Party Ever (aka the Bock Family Benefit)? Well, it’s going to be an awesome party. It sold out in just days thanks to all who have read about this here at Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? and all the places that have pitched in to get the word out!

If you didn’t get tickets, get yourself on the waiting list. Maybe you can score one at the last minute. And even if you can’t, please donate to the cause: helping the family of NYC novelist Charles Bock, author of Beautiful Children, whose wife, Diana Colbert, is battling leukemia.

Here’s what the organizers say about the waiting list. But don’t wait too long.

We are sold out, but there is a waiting list on the off-chance we get cancellations in advance. If you’d like to be put on the list, please email: most.lit.rent.party.ever@gmail.com.

Thanks, everyone, for buying, and we’ll see you soon. If you can’t come, but would still like to donate to the Bocks, please return to the homepage and go from there.

Help novelist Charles Bock and his family

Tickets for this star-studded benefit to assist acclaimed New York novelist are on sale. Buy yours now by clicking here

Charles Bock (Photo by Diana Colbert)

I met novelist Charles Bock when he was in the final stages of writing his first novel, “Beautiful Children.” We met while Charles was toiling anonymously as a day-rate writer. A 2008 New York Times Magazine cover story described it as  “a very unhappy stint as a rewrite man at a supermarket tabloid.”

However unhappy that time may have been — and there’s not doubt of that — there were some good moments too.

Many of us were rooting for Charles to succeed, to finish the novel and break out of tabloid hell. We were proud to see him get a book deal, and even more proud to read the extraordinary result of his 11 years of labor.

We came to realize that despite projecting a tattooed, tough-guy image, Charles is a warm, loving man with a great rock-and-roll spirit.

In on Dec. 11, December, 2008, less than a year after the novel was published, Charles and wife Diana Colbert had a lovely daughter, Lily.

In July 2009, Diana was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia. By November 2009, she had a bone-marrow transplant. Diana was hopeful and positive in posts on her Facebook page. But a few months ago, the disease returned. Continue reading