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Affirming, entertaining, and unaccountably, wonderfully funny ... . [Newman] has a deep talent for the macabre humor and absurdity that it takes to describe the loss of someone you cannot bear to lose. A warm and remarkably funny book about death and caregiving that will make readers laugh through their tears. I was, until recently, the etiquette columnist at Real Simple for ten years, even though yes, I swear a lot and don't know what an oyster fork is. I edit the James-Beard-Award-winning nonprofit kids' cooking magazine ChopChop. The novel’s premise, however, is hard to swallow. If Edi has only weeks to live, would she really leave her husband, Jude, and 7-year-old son – forever-- to die at a hospice three hours away, merely because Ash and Jude can’t find a hospice nearer to her New York City home within their first few hours of phone calls? Wouldn’t Edi want to spend every last minute with her family? How about staying at home and hiring a temporary aide or nurse while her companions continue searching for a closer hospice?
A riotously funny and fiercely loyal love letter to female friendship. The story of Edi and Ash proves that a best friend is a gift from the gods.... I laughed while crying, and was left revived. Newman is a comic masterhand and a dazzling philosopher of the day-to-day. AMITY GAIGE, author of SEA WIFE Who knows you better than your best friend? Who knows your secrets, your fears, your desires, your strange imperfect self? And then there's the humor. There are many attempts at humor injected throughout the book...but it's not really the sort of humor that makes me laugh out loud. It reminded me more of just how friends might chat in day-to-day life or have sort of silly inside jokes that only make sense to them. Again, nothing WRONG with it per se, but I was disappointed to not be laughing along the way. I think it would be better described as many joyful moments or silly conversations between friends, the sort that would be funny if you were involved, but as a bystander...not so much. Humor is necessary in maintaining a healthy soundness of mind. For example, Ash found out there was a waiting list to get into one hospice. Don’t they understand the concept of hospice? Sorry, maybe next time! Or the part that someone plays “Fiddler On The Roof” every afternoon. Ash is separated from her ex-husband, and she finds intimate solace with Edi’s care team, even a family member (awkward). It’s even more awkward when her teenage daughter catches her….ewe…gross MOM!!Intertwined with the story of Ash caring for Edi in her final weeks is the story of Ash's messy life. This doesn't detract at all from the main thread; they blend and complement each other. I did have some initial difficulty in keeping the characters straight in my mind: Jude, Jules, Jonah; but this didn't last long. Ash is a character who grew on me. I didn't like her much at first, but that changed as the book progressed, and now I would love to have her as a friend. I literally HATED this book. You ever read a book so bad, that it was literally changing your mood for the worse because everything about it just annoyed you.. yea.. it was this book for me. Should've easily made it to my DNF list. This is a very interesting, thoughtful examination of the arduous process of death and bereavement. Everywhere, behind closed doors, people are dying, and people are grieving them. It’s the most basic fact about human life — tied with birth, I guess — but it’s so startling too… A worldwide crescendo of grief, sustained day after day, and only one tiny note of it is mine,” the narrator writes.
Edi is dying. Ash is her best friend. They have been for over 42 years. What is beautiful about this story is that the author achieved something that is difficult. She talks about death with humor. And we as readers can be present – albeit with Kleenex.Ash spends hours and hours every day with Edi, reminiscing, crying, eating, drinking, and getting to know the staff and other residents of the hospice, many of whom, like Edi, wind up living longer than their doctors predicted, although they are slowly moving toward their end. Heat the oven to 350 F / 180 C. Grease a round 9-inch (24-cm) springform cake tin and line the bottom with parchment paper. (This is easy to do if you remember to trace the bottom of the tin before you’ve greased it, and less easy to do afterwards.) Catherine Newman sees the heartbreak and comedy of life with wisdom and unflinching compassion. The way she finds the extraordinary in the everyday is nothing short of poetry. She's a writer's writer-and a human's human. KATHERINE CENTER , New York Times bestselling author All the characters, even the supporting ones, are very well-developed and they ask have their own distinct storylines that all diverge with Edi and her illness. That aside, Newman is a solid writer and she handles the subject matter well. There are a few more gross/graphic parts towards the latter half of the book, so if you know someone who has gone through those sort of treatments (or obviously, if you've experienced them yourself) or you're just generally squeamish, you might want to pass them by. Although I didn't find this book OVERLY memorable or compelling, it had its moments that were quite lyrical and lovely, and those are my greatest takeaway. I would certainly explore other work from this author in the future (particularly if she keeps writing books for adults...for a first shot, this was so well done!)
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