This volume seeks to bring readers to a deeper understanding of contemporary cultural and social configurations of Alzheimer’s disease by analyzing 21st-century U.S. novels in which the disease plays a key narrative role. Via analysis of selected works, Garrigós considers how the erasure of memory in a person with Alzheimer’s affects our idea of the identity of that person and their sense of belonging to a group. Starting out from three different types of memory (individual, social and cultural), the study focuses on the narrative strategies that authors use to configure how the disease is perceived and represented. This study is significant not only because of what the texts reveal about those with Alzheimer’s, but also for what they say about us - about the authors and readers who are producing and consuming these texts, about how we see this disease, and what our attitudes to it say about contemporary U.S. society.
This book addresses the representation of Alzheimer's disease in U.S contemporary fiction through the lens of memory loss. The study focuses on how the interpretation of the erasure of memories in a person with Alzheimer's affects our idea of identity in an individual, social and cultural sense"
This groundbreaking multicultural anthology shares moving personal stories about the impacts of Alzheimer’s and dementia. An estimated 5.7 million Americans are afflicted by Alzheimer’s disease, including 10 percent of those over sixty-five, and it is the sixth leading cause of death. But its effects are more pervasive: for the nearly 6 million sufferers, there are more than 16 million family caregivers and many more family members. Alzheimer’s wreaks havoc not only on brain cells; it is a disease of the spirit and heart for those who suffer from it but also for their families. This groundbreaking anthology presents forty narratives, both nonfiction and fiction, that together capture the impact and complexity of Alzheimer’s and other dementias on patients as well as their caregivers and family. Deeply personal, recounting the wrenching course of a disease that kills a loved one twice—first they forget who they are, and then the body succumbs—these stories also show how witnessing the disease and caring for someone with it can be powerfully transformative, calling forth amazing strength and grace. The contributors, who have all generously donated their work, include Edwidge Danticat, Julie Otsuka, Elizabeth Nunez, Meryl Comer, Greg O’Brien, Dr. Daniel Potts, Sallie Tisdale, and Nihal Satyadev. Reflecting the diversity and global nature of the dementia crisis, this anthology is published in collaboration with UsAgainstAlzheimer’s.
Garry Willmott will donate ten per cent of all royalties from the sales of both the paperback and e-book to an appropriate charity supporting dementia research. Donations will be distributed to the country where the sales originated from. This story brings life the anguish of those people, young and old, suffering the consequences of Alzheimer's disease. It is a story that illuminates many factual aspects of the nature of this illness while fictionally bringing us into the lives of those transformed by its devastating effects. The author has created sympathetic and credible characters whose plights we share as they confront the ways in which this tragic illness affects not only those directly stricken but also their close relatives and friends. The carefully constructed narrative shows vividly how the disease can strike anyone: Rob, a successful young medical researcher with a promising career; his mother, a respected lawyer with a life of achievement, and all those within their immediate orbit are changed utterly by the onset of this disease. There are many subsidiary contemporary elements introduced by the engaging narrative. Gay relationships, for example, are represented positively and respectfully so that we see gay couples living faithful, loving and socially acceptable lives. The author also implies some of the dangers inherent in placing too much faith in the contemporary (and often exploitative) trent to online relationships. There are tragedies and triumphs in this tight and suspenseful narrative. It is an 'emotional roller-coaster', both poignant and uplifting. It is also a compelling read. Two gentlemen were sharing a house together after both their wives had died; both suffered dementia. One of them, Harry, asked his housemate Frank if he wanted anything up at the shops. "Why would I bother Harry? You'll forget by the time you get out the back door." "No, don't be silly, of course I'll remember. I'm feeling good today." "Ok, do you know those ice-creams that have a chocolate flake sticking out of it?" "Yeah!" "Well I want one of them." "Ok, done." "What did I ask for?" "You want one of those ice-creams that have a chocolate flake sticking out of it." "Seeing you remembered that, I want hundreds and thousands sprinkled over the whole lot. Oh forget it, you'll never remember." "I will, I promise." Harry left the house to walk the one kilometre to the shops; three hours later he returned and plonked a brown paper bag down on the kitchen table. "There's your pie." Frank looked inside the bag. "For god's sake, you forgot the sauce!"
This story brings life the anguish of those people, young and old, suffering the consequences of Alzheimer's disease. It is a story that illuminates many factual aspects of the nature of this illness while fictionally bringing us into the lives of those transformed by its devastating effects. The author has created sympathetic and credible characters whose plights we share as they confront the ways in which this tragic illness affects not only those directly stricken but also their close relatives and friends. The carefully constructed narrative shows vividly how the disease can strike anyone: Rob, a successful young medical researcher with a promising career; his mother, a respected lawyer with a life of achievement, and all those within their immediate orbit are changed utterly by the onset of this disease. There are many subsidiary contemporary elements introduced by the engaging narrative. Gay relationships, for example, are represented positively and respectfully so that we see gay couples living faithful, loving and socially acceptable lives. The author also implies some of the dangers inherent in placing too much faith in the contemporary (and often exploitative) trent to online relationships. There are tragedies and triumphs in this tight and suspenseful narrative. It is an 'emotional roller-coaster', both poignant and uplifting. It is also a compelling read. Two gentlemen were sharing a house together after both their wives had died; both suffered dementia. One of them, Harry, asked his housemate Frank if he wanted anything up at the shops. "Why would I bother Harry? You'll forget by the time you get out the back door." "No, don't be silly, of course I'll remember. I'm feeling good today." "Ok, do you know those ice-creams that have a chocolate flake sticking out of it?" "Yeah!" "Well I want one of them." "Ok, done." "What did I ask for?" "You want one of those ice-creams that have a chocolate flake sticking out of it." "Seeing you remembered that, I want hundreds and thousands sprinkled over the whole lot. Oh forget it, you'll never remember." "I will, I promise." Harry left the house to walk the one kilometre to the shops; three hours later he returned and plonked a brown paper bag down on the kitchen table. "There's your pie." Frank looked inside the bag. "For god's sake, you forgot the sauce!"
A moving story of a woman with early onset Alzheimer's disease, now a major Academy Award-winning film starring Julianne Moore and Kristen Stewart. Alice Howland is proud of the life she worked so hard to build. At fifty, she's a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard and a renowned expert in linguistics, with a successful husband and three grown children. When she begins to grow forgetful and disoriented, she dismisses it for as long as she can until a tragic diagnosis changes her life - and her relationship with her family and the world around her - for ever. Unable to care for herself, Alice struggles to find meaning and purpose as her concept of self gradually slips away. But Alice is a remarkable woman, and her family learn more about her and each other in their quest to hold on to the Alice they know. Her memory hanging by a frayed thread, she is living in the moment, living for each day. But she is still Alice. 'Remarkable … illuminating … highly relevant today' Daily Mail 'The most accurate account of what it feels like to be inside the mind of an Alzheimer's patient I've ever read. Beautifully written and very illuminating' Rosie Boycot 'Utterly brilliant' Chrissy Iley
A devastating medical diagnosis changes Ellen and Jake's life drastically, and then Jake meets Julia Sinclair, a young widow who understands his struggle as no one else can.
Vonnie Morrow is the last surviving member of her nuclear family except for her ninety year old mother Elizabeth. Vonnie has assumed full responsibility for the care and well being of this aging and very difficult woman. As the story begins, Vonnie enters the office of a middle-aged psychiatrist, Dr. Richard Koontz. She seeks help with the anxiety attacks that are being triggered by her dealings with her mother. The reader sees Vonnies childhood through flashbacks that give us a glimpse of the home she grew up in and her reasons for psychological difficulties now. Dr. Koontz himself is also dealing with the issues of aging and elder care. His father is showing signs of Alzheimers Disease. Dr. Koontz and his brother must come up with a plan to care for him even though he resists. Dr. Koontz himself is beginning to doubt his professional and personal choices in life. He wonders if a dramatic career and lifestyle change is warranted. Dr. Ed Wallace is Dr. Koontzs friend and mentor. As Dr. Wallace faces imminent retirement, he is faced with this alone. For all his wealth and social connections, Ed Wallace is a solitary widower and one who has developed some very poor coping mechanisms to deal with loneliness. The strand that holds the story together is Elizabeth, now in nursing home care. Vonnie struggles to overcome the influences of her past in order to function in the present. Doctors Koontz and Wallace seek to help her as does her husband Frank. Each individual must come to terms with the problems of aging for themselves and for those in their families. Aging Americans make up such a significant and growing part of our population. The theme of Assisted Living is a timely one. It is one that may strike a chord of truth for those readers who find themselves in the role of caretaker for aging relatives.
No Word for the Sea is built on several layers of questioning: What is language? What is memory? Where does the mind go when the circuits shut down? The novel covers seven years in the lives of Solome and Stephen Savard in St. Paul, Minnesota. Stephen is provost at Cobson College, and Solome has raised three children. The events alternate between Stephen's first-person narrative and Solome's third-person narrative in accord with the breaking text of their lives. ""Once there was a common Indo-European language with words for winter and horse, but no word for the sea."" The history of the English language has an inland origin. As they find themselves stranded in the destructive effects of Stephen's Alzheimer's, there also is an exploration of resolution that comes from such an experience. Mark 8:36 asks, ""What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"" No Word for the Sea asks, ""What if a man gains his soul, but loses the world?"" ""No Word for the Sea reconceives Alzheimer's disease within the context of Christianity and its counter-narrative of healing and hope. Perhaps the lost memories of Alzheimer's patients exist forever in the memory of God. 'Maybe Stephen was remembering somewhere. . . . Maybe consciousness was a part of the larger universe. A part of God' (234). No Word for the Sea is theologically rich, beautifully written, essential reading for courses in medical humanities."" --Emily Griesinger, Azusa Pacific University Diane Glancy is professor emerita at Macalester College. She has published six books with Wipf & Stock-- Uprising of Goats (2014), One of Us (2015), Ironic Witness (2015), Mary Queen of Bees (2017), and The Servitude of Love (2017).
In telling Sarah's Alzheimer's Story, the writer takes you back to where it all began in the hills of Kentucky where Sarah was born. You may laugh, cry, or simply wonder as you go with her through her journey of life. The reader will get to know about the strong woman Sarah and how she endures many tragedies. One will find that even though memory loss is a large part of Alzheimer's disease, in Sarah's case, there is so much more. Throughout the story, the writer sometimes takes you back to incidents earlier in Sarah's life. In the writer's opinion, Sarah may be recalling something from the past, causing her to act the way she does. This seems to be especially true when she begins to see or talk to imaginary people. Dealing with this disease is often a struggle for Sarah and her family. But hopefully, you will see the joy in their laughter, the sorrow in their tears, and feel their strong love. It is hard to watch this very strong woman deteriorate mentally, physically, and lose her personality. But this writer believes that there is a reason, even if we do not understand it at the time.
