“Readers… will find themselves laughing out loud and moved to tears. An immense and original talent.” –The TIMES-PICAYUNE (New Orleans)
IT’S A GOOD DAY WHEN YOU DON'T RESORT TO RAT POISON… M.A. Harper’s acerbic wit offers a wickedly entertaining seat on the always-wild Alzheimer’s ride. Fighting her way back to sleep after her mother’s latest Alzheimer’s-driven 3:00 a.m. ramble, Jeanne Roth reminds herself: Tomorrow will be here soon, and it’s going to be just like today was, like something out of Lewis Carroll on crystal meth.
Capturing the hilarity and heartbreak of those who've lost their minds to Alzheimer’s, and the tensile strength of mind required of their caregivers, The Worst Day of My Life, So Far is a thoughtful, powerful book about doing the laundry and going to bed content in the knowledge that you have once again made it through the day without, as Jeanne says, having “yet poisoned her, nor put my head in the oven.”
By turns sharp and poignant, Harper is at her most deliciously acidic rehashing the awkward adolescence familiar to most of us, fearlessly probing the questionable decisions of our twenties, and scathingly exposing the failures of our thirties. She lovingly relates Jeanne’s touching memories of her once-beautiful and dauntless mother as Jeanne attempts to reconcile them with the woman who no longer remembers how to use a telephone or toilet tissue.
As always, Harper handles the situation with wit and grace, copious amounts of chocolate ice cream – and bourbon.
WHO WILL LIKE IT: Fans of STILL ALICE and the Julie Christie movie AWAY FROM HER, as well as books like THE HELP and SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK--because we're talking funny AND touching here. Also fans of well-written literary fiction that's also unpretentious, down-to-earth, sometime a little outrageous, and makes you laugh out loud.
IT’S A GOOD DAY WHEN YOU DON'T RESORT TO RAT POISON… M.A. Harper’s acerbic wit offers a wickedly entertaining seat on the always-wild Alzheimer’s ride. Fighting her way back to sleep after her mother’s latest Alzheimer’s-driven 3:00 a.m. ramble, Jeanne Roth reminds herself: Tomorrow will be here soon, and it’s going to be just like today was, like something out of Lewis Carroll on crystal meth.
Capturing the hilarity and heartbreak of those who've lost their minds to Alzheimer’s, and the tensile strength of mind required of their caregivers, The Worst Day of My Life, So Far is a thoughtful, powerful book about doing the laundry and going to bed content in the knowledge that you have once again made it through the day without, as Jeanne says, having “yet poisoned her, nor put my head in the oven.”
By turns sharp and poignant, Harper is at her most deliciously acidic rehashing the awkward adolescence familiar to most of us, fearlessly probing the questionable decisions of our twenties, and scathingly exposing the failures of our thirties. She lovingly relates Jeanne’s touching memories of her once-beautiful and dauntless mother as Jeanne attempts to reconcile them with the woman who no longer remembers how to use a telephone or toilet tissue.
As always, Harper handles the situation with wit and grace, copious amounts of chocolate ice cream – and bourbon.
WHO WILL LIKE IT: Fans of STILL ALICE and the Julie Christie movie AWAY FROM HER, as well as books like THE HELP and SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK--because we're talking funny AND touching here. Also fans of well-written literary fiction that's also unpretentious, down-to-earth, sometime a little outrageous, and makes you laugh out loud.
