Interview: 'It's Okay To Laugh' Author Talks Grief, Humor

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – What's surprising about Nora McInerny Purmort's deeply moving memoir on the death of her husband is how funny the book often is.

"It's Okay to Laugh (Crying is Cool Too)" is an exploration of grief and the strange mix of feelings that one goes through when losing a loved one. In the book, McInerny Purmort, a writer in Minneapolis and the mother of a little boy, tells the story of her husband's fight with brain cancer and how the young couple managed to fit a lifetime of memories into a few years.

"I wrote the book that I wanted to read when I was going through something like this," McInerny Purmort told Esme Murphy on WCCO Sunday Morning. "I didn't want to write this book when I was in my 40s, married again, living somewhere with 10 children...I wrote a book where it's not fine, and it reflects all these crazy feelings that you go through – and it's the full spectrum, by the way."

To see Esme Murphy's interview with McInerny Purmort, watch the video above.

"It's Okay to Laugh (Crying is Cool Too)" came out earlier this month. You can find it at most major bookstores and on Amazon.com.