First, I picked up L--who had introduced me to Jan--and then we picked up the copies I'd preordered, and found a place to sit. The space was jam-packed and they ended up having to add more seating. Jan, who used to teach English at a local high school, read a pandemic piece titled "Caper." It was characteristically hilarious and suspenseful and I can't wait to read the rest.
The following is from an old essay I found on the internet called "Where the Water Is". It gives some idea of how Jan uses wit in ways that are sharp and searching.
"One of the uncomfortable things about living with a person who suffers from Alzheimer’s is that it makes you confront your own character flaws. Just when you thought it more or less clear from all the times you’ve sent money to public radio and boycotted Wal-Mart that you were the incarnation of Albert Schweitzer, or Gandhi, or both, you find out you’re really just a slightly bitchier version of Martha Stewart. Your well of compassion and patience, which was never very deep to begin with, is now just an empty cistern."
Pic: Jan at the lectern at the Slow Learner launch today.
6 comments:
I put this book on hold when you first mentioned it— can’t wait!
Oh, I can absolutely relate to that excerpt! I feel that so deeply when caring for my mother, age 93, Alzheimer's. I have her a week every month, and by the third day...aaarrrggghhh. Rick says it takes me three days to come back to myself.
Thanks for the link. I'm headed there now.
Nice.
Wow! A packed book reading. I've never been to such a thing!
Sarah--I hope you like it!
Nance--That is so, so difficult. Hugs.
Gillian--Thank you.
NGS--My experience is quite the opposite--how can this be?
I have to put that book on hold! That quote alone is enough for me.
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