A beautifully written but painful series of meditations.
A kaleidoscopic vision of what it means to care for an ailing relative.
As Casey (editor, Unholy Ghost: Writers on Depression, 2001) tells it in the introduction to this collection of essays, she got off easy. Though she saw her sister, Maude, through hospitalization for a manic episode and then a five-month long bout of depression, she points out that the family did eventually see her through: “Once Maud got back on her feet, she returned to her life with tenacity and success,” writes Casey. “My family, meanwhile, was given the pleasure and satisfaction of believing that our hard work had paid off, that we had helped Maud.” But for many of the writers of these almost-uniformly devastating accounts, the only end in sight is death, and the drama lies in learning how to deal with it. Helen Schulman writes about watching her father’s slow decline from his position as chief resident at Mt. Sinai to a bedridden mess with so many problems they didn’t know what killed him until the autopsy. Sam Lipsyte tells of moving back in with his mother to recover from drug addiction only to become her caretaker when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Ann Hood writes of the sudden death of her five-year-old daughter, ravaged by the common strep virus, while Julia Glass writes from the other side of the hospital bed about her experience being cared for as a breast-cancer patient. Stories of Alzheimer’s, M.S. and cancer abound, as well as tales of coping with a child’s autism or a husband’s sudden catastrophic head injury. Thankfully, there are stories of recovery, but they challenge the wishful idea that recovery means a return to life as it had been. Each essay—other contributors include Julia Alvarez, Jerome Groopman and Anne Landsman—explores the burdens, terrors, sorrows and, occasionally, joy involved in undergoing a terrible ordeal with someone you love.
A beautifully written but painful series of meditations.Pub Date: Nov. 13, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-06-087530-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A highly readable account of how solid research and personal testing of self-help techniques saved a couple's marriage after...
Self-help advice and personal reflections on avoiding spousal fights while raising children.
Before her daughter was born, bestselling author Dunn (Why Is My Mother Getting a Tattoo?: And Other Questions I Wish I Never Had to Ask, 2009, etc.) enjoyed steady work and a happy marriage. However, once she became a mother, there never seemed to be enough time, sleep, and especially help from her husband. Little irritations became monumental obstacles between them, which led to major battles. Consequently, they turned to expensive couples' therapy to help them regain some peace in life. In a combination of memoir and advice that can be found in most couples' therapy self-help books, Dunn provides an inside look at her own vexing issues and the solutions she and her husband used to prevent them from appearing in divorce court. They struggled with age-old battles fought between men and women—e.g., frequency of sex, who does more housework, who should get up with the child in the middle of the night, why women need to have a clean house, why men need more alone time, and many more. What Dunn learned via therapy, talks with other parents, and research was that there is no perfect solution to the many dynamics that surface once couples become parents. But by using time-tested techniques, she and her husband learned to listen, show empathy, and adjust so that their former status as a happy couple could safely and peacefully morph into a happy family. Readers familiar with Dunn's honest and humorous writing will appreciate the behind-the-scenes look at her own semi-messy family life, and those who need guidance through the rough spots can glean advice while being entertained—all without spending lots of money on couples’ therapy.
A highly readable account of how solid research and personal testing of self-help techniques saved a couple's marriage after the birth of their child.Pub Date: March 21, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-26710-6
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An absorbing, wide-ranging story of humans’ relationship with the water.
A study of swimming as sport, survival method, basis for community, and route to physical and mental well-being.
For Bay Area writer Tsui (American Chinatown: A People's History of Five Neighborhoods, 2009), swimming is in her blood. As she recounts, her parents met in a Hong Kong swimming pool, and she often visited the beach as a child and competed on a swim team in high school. Midway through the engaging narrative, the author explains how she rejoined the team at age 40, just as her 6-year-old was signing up for the first time. Chronicling her interviews with scientists and swimmers alike, Tsui notes the many health benefits of swimming, some of which are mental. Swimmers often achieve the “flow” state and get their best ideas while in the water. Her travels took her from the California coast, where she dove for abalone and swam from Alcatraz back to San Francisco, to Tokyo, where she heard about the “samurai swimming” martial arts tradition. In Iceland, she met Guðlaugur Friðþórsson, a local celebrity who, in 1984, survived six hours in a winter sea after his fishing vessel capsized, earning him the nickname “the human seal.” Although humans are generally adapted to life on land, the author discovered that some have extra advantages in the water. The Bajau people of Indonesia, for instance, can do 10-minute free dives while hunting because their spleens are 50% larger than average. For most, though, it’s simply a matter of practice. Tsui discussed swimming with Dara Torres, who became the oldest Olympic swimmer at age 41, and swam with Kim Chambers, one of the few people to complete the daunting Oceans Seven marathon swim challenge. Drawing on personal experience, history, biology, and social science, the author conveys the appeal of “an unflinching giving-over to an element” and makes a convincing case for broader access to swimming education (372,000 people still drown annually).
An absorbing, wide-ranging story of humans’ relationship with the water.Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-61620-786-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Algonquin
Review Posted Online: Jan. 4, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
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