描述
开 本: 32开纸 张: 胶版纸包 装: 精装是否套装: 否国际标准书号ISBN: 9781590511305
Jack Stewart was a longtime editor at the New York Times.
Linda was the U.S. representative of a French publishing
consortium. Theirs was a marriage graced with good luck, a union
from which each drew strength and joy in equal measure. In his
early seventies, Jack opted for retirement but continued to work as
a freelance editor and literary agent. The passing years were
enriched by travel, strong family ties, and the delight of
friendships.
Illness descended abruptly one October afternoon. Jack, awaking
confused and disoriented from a nap, was rushed to the hospital.
There the diagnosis was both swift and horrifying: Alzheimer’s
disease. It was a pronouncement that instantly overwhelmed all
other considerations. Against her husband’s loss of self-awareness,
Linda quickly found she had no preparation, no defense. As his
memory vanished, the essence of who he was vanished as well. 25
Months documents the struggle of a husband and wife to navigate the
treacherous terrain of illness.
Alzheimer’s is being diagnosed with ever-growing frequency. It is
a disease of unknown origin, one that for now has no cure. The
illness relentlessly and incrementally shreds personality and
intellect. Yet every case is distinct, eliciting unique responses
from both patient and caregiver. In those responses can be found
the core of our character. The author describes the pain as well as
the unexpected flashes of joy that came with caring for her failing
husband. She describes as well the frustration of coping with a
health care system that, despite benign intentions, seems woefully
inadequate to meet the needs of Alzheimer’s patients.
Publishers Weekly 2004
June 21, 2004
25 MONTHS
Linda McK. Stewart. Other Press, $22 (288p) ISBN
1-59051-130-1
Stewart’s second husband, Jack, worked for 34 years as a New York
Times editor, launched a respected African news journal and
pleasantly retired into a late career as a part-time literary
agent. One autumn afternoon, with barely any warning, he began to
exhibit undeniable symptoms of Alzheimer’s, which changed
everything for him and his wife. Stewart’s straightforward, deeply
felt memoir of the ensuing 25 months couldn’t have been an easy
story to tell, much less write and rewrite into this solid and
often poignant book, but it’s a strong narrative testimonial to her
husband and his last months. Stewart leaves no doubt of her
affection for Jack; her characterization of him nears hagiography.
Yet this was a second marriage for both, and there’s scant
information as to why the first ones failed. Stewart also has
considerable experience as a freelance travel writer and draws on
that expertise in the book’s heart, when her husband’s memory has
become irrevocably fragmented. For example, some random comment of
Jack’s connects with Stewart’s memories of their travels to the
Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania to visit Louis and Mary Leakey. This
mixing of Jack’s present-day deterioration with Stewart’s precise
memories begins to promise something more, but the book soon
returns to the conventional, month-by-month story of Jack’s
worsening condition, and the sad, simple story of a solid marriage
coming to an end.
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