Synopses & Reviews
Review
"Unflinching in its look at the truths we may prefer to ignore—the passing of time, the breakdown of the body, the complicated give and take between parent and child, the fact that we are all on the inexorable march toward the end—this is a hard book because Ann Putnam has the courage to tell us the truth about aging and dying. But it’s a gorgeous book, too, one born from the endurance of the human spirit and the capacity to love."—Lee Martin, author of River of Heaven "Ann Putnam’s story should be helpful to many people trying to care for elderly, ill loved ones. This is not a how-to handbook, but rather a model of making meaning, a narrative of love—of piecing together scraps of lives, artifacts, photographs, memories, letters."—Carol Donley, co-editor of
"With the caring attention of a novelist, Ann Putnam has given us a story of love and loss and survival that moves and instructs. This is a work of love and devotion, a gift."—Annick Smith, author of
"Anyone can suffer; only an artist can turn suffering into something beautiful and universal. If there’s a survivor’s guide to easing the transitions necessary with aging parents, this is it." —Ladette Randolph, editor of Ploughshares
In This We Are Native and co-producer of the film A River Runs Through It
"This memoir is heart-rending and heart-warming, as Ann Putnam describes the deaths of her beloved father and his identical twin, her much-loved uncle. Putnam translates these losses into an inspiring and poignant family story that is also the tale of every family facing the inevitable."—Nina Baym, editor of
"Old age, death, and impermanence—it seems at first glance impossible to make a reader see these timeless and universal experiences with fresh eyes, but Ann Putnam’s luminous prose achieves that miracle and more, transforming pain, suffering, and loss into a literary gift of beauty and redemption."—Charles Johnson, author of Middle Passage, winner of the 1990 National Book Award
About the Author
ANN PUTNAM teaches creative writing and women's studies at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. She has published short fiction, personal essays, literary criticism, and book reviews in various anthologies such as Hemingway and Cuba and in journals, including the Hemingway Review, Western American Literature, and the South Dakota Review. Thomas R. Coleis director of the McGovern Center for Health, Humanities, and the Human Spirit at the University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center Medical School. The author of many books on aging, including The Journey of Life: A Cultural History of Aging in America, he is also a professor of humanities and religious studies at Rice University. David Hilfiker, M.D., is the founder of Joseph's House in Washington, D. C., a community for homeless men with AIDS. He is the author of Urban Injustice: How Ghettos Happen, Not All of Us Are Saints: A Doctor's Journey with the Poor, and Healing the Wounds: A Doctor Looks at His Work.