Our Last Blue Moon

by Kris O'Shee

In Our Last Blue Moon , dancer Kris O'Shee, widow of Alan Cheuse, the novelist, beloved teacher, and literary commentator known as the "voice of books" on NPR's All Things Considered for over thirty years, tells the story of the loss of her husband after he sustained injuries in a car crash in the summer of 2015. O'Shee chronicles the days in the Northern California hospital, the bedside vigil after Cheuse lapsed into a coma, and ultimately, his death. In her publishing debut, O'Shee writes in engaging and honest prose, in a memoir that is deeply personal and self-aware, without any self-pity or cliché. This is a story vivid in language, awash in love, and honest in reflecting on twenty-five happily shared years with the love of O'Shee's life. Reeling from Cheuse's death, O'Shee was thrust into widowhood. Rattled by grief, she eventually wrote her way to a new stage of life.
"...written with grace, charm, wit, and mischief." - Molly Giles "This is a story of ultimate grace, told with ... elegant precision." - Ana Menendez "Her grief and joy will stay with me for a long time." - Matt Klam

Genres: Nonfiction

204 pages, Paperback

First published October 5, 2021

Reviews

[Sharon Huether]

A beautifully written memoir of meeting, love, marriage and death.
The author tells of her love affaire with writer and "Voice of Books" with NPR's All Things considered, Alan Cheuse and their all but brief time together.

Kris saw the blue moon shine through the window of the hospital where Alan lay near death as she witnessed the rise and fall of that blue moon

I won this free book from Watershed Lit.

[Alimags]

This is a really lovely memoir about grief and love. Kris O’Shee weaves the story of how she and her husband Alan Cheuse met in middle age with the story of losing him suddenly twenty years later in a car accident. It’s a beautiful, hopeful love story.

[Pasha]

how dear to read about the love between two artists and their romance

especially enjoyed the descriptions of living in dc (screened-in porch summers!)