Saving Grandma

This final entry in the Calvin Becker trilogy continues the story of an utterly unpredictable family — filled with the same wit, warmth, and flashing insight that earned widespread acclaim for Portofino and Zermatt. Calvin Becker’s family have survived and persisted as Bible-thumping missionaries; it’s their duty to spread the Word to everyone they meet. But now, having weathered a crisis precipitated by the godless Swiss, they face an even greater spiritual challenge right in their own home: Grandma. Foulmouthed, foul-tempered, and heathen through and through, she’s staying in the spare room, recuperating from a broken hip — and making it next to impossible for the Beckers to do the Lord’s work. Calvin’s pious mom is determined to save Grandma’s soul, even if she’s doing it through gritted teeth and deadly measures. His father’s spending more and more time in his room, blasting opera to drown out the old lady’s voice. And Calvin wishes things would just get back to normal so they can go on vacation and he can get close to the girl he loves. But then Calvin starts to understand Grandma a little better and appreciate her a little more. After all, misery loves company.