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16th out of 30 books
—
11 voters
Excerpts From A Family Medical Dictionary
"Excerpts from a Family Medical Dictionary" is an intimate, exquisite, and true account of what it is to help a parent die. After her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer, former home care worker and award-winning writer Rebecca Brown cared for her mother during the last six months of her life. This spare, unsentimental book comes out of that experience. In short chap...more
Published
(first published July 28th 2001)
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The entire essay moves toward the mother's death which occurs at the very end, rendered beautifully, with a sense of hope (quite unlike Rieff's memoir of Sontag's death) but without religiosity. Yet for me the essence of the book is stated early, on page 28, where Brown writes: "I don't remember when I stopped hoping my mother would remain alive. I go over and over this time in my head. I go over and over as if by thinking differently, as if by my remembering what was not I can remake or change...more
A beautifully measured account of the death of the author's mother from cancer, this book tells its painful story in a no-nonsense straight-ahead fashion that makes the sadness feel more present. It's a book that makes you want to be a better person to your loved ones. Or at least a person who lives life and faces death with beauty and empathy and grace.
I was so drawn into this book I think I finished it in under an hour - although it is not a long book to read at all.
It isn't very cheerful but it's realistic and almost comforting in the way it deals with cancer. Rebecca's definitions are actually her own - which I found out after reading - and give it that something extra.
I'm not a huge fan of memoir and autobiography but as a starting point into the genre this was heavy (the subject matter) but accessible and relateable for anyone dealing w...more
It isn't very cheerful but it's realistic and almost comforting in the way it deals with cancer. Rebecca's definitions are actually her own - which I found out after reading - and give it that something extra.
I'm not a huge fan of memoir and autobiography but as a starting point into the genre this was heavy (the subject matter) but accessible and relateable for anyone dealing w...more
No one writes about death and grief and family as unflinchingly as Rebecca Brown does in this book.
For preparation for death, yours or anyones, you should read this.
got this book last year or so and browsed through it but was never hooked. picked it off the shelf though to read in the icu while sitting with my father who is in dire straights with a stroke at the moment, and found great comfort and solace with this book. really honest and straightforward without being too sentimental, it touched me in a brand new way after my former browsing. perfect time for me to read it. loved it.
this book is so beautiful and stark. her writing is heartbreaking and perfect for the barren lands of grief and loss. it is a detailed portrait of accompanying a loved one through hospice care.
An unusual and intriguing structure - arranged by topic rather than chronology but still having a narrative arc. Compelling and vividly honest.
a sad lovely happy book about a daughter (her siblings) and a journey with a mother dying from/living with cancer.
Oct 02, 2007
S Katherine
marked it as to-read
This looks fab by such an amazingly talented writer, I can't wait to read it....wish list, wish list, wish list.
difficult, but necc.
May 09, 2013
Linda
marked it as to-read
Apr 12, 2013
Ellena Navarro
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Mar 18, 2013
Ray
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Mar 17, 2013
carrie
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Jan 11, 2013
Ivy
marked it as to-read
Jan 09, 2013
J.S.A. Lowe
marked it as to-read
Dec 05, 2012
Frances Dinger
marked it as to-read
Nov 19, 2012
Bridget (awesome spark)
marked it as to-read
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