Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant?
Ratings19
Average rating4.1
15
Ratings19
Average rating4.1
In her first memoir, Roz Chast brings her signature wit to the topic of aging parents. Spanning the last several years of their lives and told through four-color cartoons, family photos, and documents, and a narrative as rife with laughs as it is with tears, Chast's memoir is both comfort and comic relief for anyone experiencing the life-altering loss of elderly parents. When it came to her elderly mother and father, Roz held to the practices of denial, avoidance, and distraction. But when Elizabeth Chast climbed a ladder to locate an old souvenir from the 'crazy closet' -- with predictable results -- the tools that had served Roz well through her parents' seventies, eighties, and into their early nineties could no longer be deployed. While the particulars are Chastian in their idiosyncrasies -- an anxious father who had relied heavily on his wife for stability as he slipped into dementia and a former assistant principal mother whose overbearing personality had sidelined Roz for decades -- the themes are universal: adult children accepting a parental role; aging and unstable parents leaving a family home for an institution; dealing with uncomfortable physical intimacies; managing logistics; and hiring strangers to provide the most personal care. A portrait of two lives at their end and an only child coping as best she can, this book shows the full range of Roz Chast's talent as cartoonist and storyteller. - Publisher.
Reviews with the most likes.
Whew.
This is one of those books that anyone who has had their parents pass on should read. It is cathartic, acerbically funny, and true.
I had a much, much better relationship than my mother than Roz did but so many of the passages echo what caregivers and adult children feel when their parents are going through the dying process. Thoughts you wish you wouldn't have, but have to get out else you go crazy.
I read this in pieces over the past couple of weeks. I was never unhappy to revisit, but I liked it better in small doses. I should probably buy a copy so I give it to my kids in about 30 years.
Oof, this is heavy. Don't be fooled by the colorful, quirky art. It deals with aging and death and senility and I CAN'T HANDLE THAT RIGHT NOW I'M ON VACATION.
I think I'm a little in love with Roz Chast. I even looked up pictures of her so I would have a better mental image of her. There are pictures of her floating around with colourful parrots perched on her shoulder (she has three) and another of her wearing a pearl necklace and matching earrings. She has blonde hair that she tucks behind her ears. She wears glasses. She's 61. She doesn't like sitcoms. She's funny and her husband's funny too. I'm jealous of their kids (they have two). Why do I keep reading emotionally draining graphic novels at 3 in the night? I was laughing my heart out while it slowly broke - a funny feeling - while reading this. This is why I love graphic memoirs ([b:The Complete Maus 15195 The Complete Maus (Maus, #1-2) Art Spiegelman https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327354180s/15195.jpg 1658562], [b:The Complete Persepolis 991197 The Complete Persepolis (Persepolis, #1-4) Marjane Satrapi https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327876995s/991197.jpg 13344769], [b:Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened 17571564 Hyperbole and a Half Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened Allie Brosh https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1409522492s/17571564.jpg 24510592], [b:Blankets 25179 Blankets Craig Thompson https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1460925949s/25179.jpg 781193], [b:Epileptic 39916 Epileptic David B. https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386921331s/39916.jpg 1018527]), they are painfully real. It doesn't feel like they're partially fabricated/ghostwritten like autobiographies. (I am reminded of [b:Go Ask Alice 46799 Go Ask Alice Beatrice Sparks https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327870536s/46799.jpg 2115708] and [b:A Million Little Pieces 1241 A Million Little Pieces James Frey https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1401465768s/1241.jpg 3140930], the book that got its writer [a:James Frey 822 James Frey https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1207412020p2/822.jpg] kicked out of Oprah Winfrey's book club.) They are sincere, introspective and straightforward. I am starting to believe art is a more effective medium than words for communicating experiences when it comes to autobiographies. They feel more personal to me. For me, they convey a certain sense of intimacy. I always feel curious about the authors after. I looked up [a:Marjane Satrapi 6238 Marjane Satrapi https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1303646506p2/6238.jpg] and [a:Craig Thompson 14151 Craig Thompson https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1312311495p2/14151.jpg] just like Roz Chast here. They write with an emotional honesty that I can't get enough of.
