Goodbye, Vitamin
Ratings19
Average rating3.8
Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, O, The Oprah Magazine, Vogue, San Francisco Chronicle, Esquire, Huffington Post, Nylon, Entertainment Weekly, Buzzfeed, Booklist, and The Independent Winner of the California Book Award for First Fiction Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist for First Fiction "A quietly brilliant disquisition . . . told in prose that is so startling in its spare beauty that I found myself thinking about Khong's turns of phrase for days after I finished reading."—Doree Shafrir, The New York Times Book Review "One of those rare books that is both devastating and light-hearted, heartful and joyful. . . . Don't miss it."—Buzzfeed "Hello, Rachel Khong. Kudos for this delectable take on familial devotion and dementia."—NPR Her life at a crossroads, a young woman goes home again in this funny and inescapably moving debut from a wonderfully original new literary voice. Freshly disengaged from her fiancé and feeling that life has not turned out quite the way she planned, thirty-year-old Ruth quits her job, leaves town and arrives at her parents’ home to find that situation more complicated than she'd realized. Her father, a prominent history professor, is losing his memory and is only erratically lucid. Ruth’s mother, meanwhile, is lucidly erratic. But as Ruth's father’s condition intensifies, the comedy in her situation takes hold, gently transforming her all her grief. Told in captivating glimpses and drawn from a deep well of insight, humor, and unexpected tenderness, Goodbye, Vitamin pilots through the loss, love, and absurdity of finding one’s footing in this life.
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Based on the less-than-enthusiastic buzz for this book last year, I actually liked this better than I thought I would, but it reminded me a bit of Jami Attenberg's All Grown Up.
I just wasn't in the mood or right headspace for this book. This is a type that you should read in multiple sittings to really enjoy and appreciate. I liked the humor and sharp observations by the author, but I wasn't vibing with the material.
30 year old Ruth finds herself sitting alone in her new apartment. She was supposed to be sharing the place with her fiance Joel - who, on the day of the move, announced he wouldn't be joining her and instead would be staying at their old place with his new girlfriend.
Soon after she is home for the holidays where she learns that her father has been having lapses. He's in the early stages of Alzheimer's and has already lost his position at the college teaching history. Ruth is asked to stay for a year to help out. Her younger brother has decided to stay away, having still not forgiven their father for his infidelity and alcoholism when he was younger.
Sounds like a ton of fun. But Rachel Khong works with a light touch.
Ruth records her year at home in diary format. Her accounts are bookended with the notes her own father left for her in an old notebook. She reads about her youthful queries about where metal comes from and what flavor are germs.
It's a year in the life. There's no real beginning or end, no tidy resolution. It barely hints at the inevitable struggle that will grow in the following years and already has the gauzy feel of nostalgia. It's a book about memory and the things we hold on to.
I suspect it would be frustrating for a reader hoping for a closer look at Alzheimers, a climactic confrontation of past betrayals, a sobbing acceptance of a love lost. A swelling of the orchestra and an emotional close-up. None of that is here. Ruth instead records the quirky everyday things that often stick out. Her father holding his regime of vitamins in one hand, shaking them like dice. I like that. Wry and melancholic but still as familiar as your mom's cooking and just as beautifully done.
