Dear Great Book Guru,  My friends and I were talking recently about a new book we would like to use for our monthly book discussion. It is a story of a family here on Long Island who deals with a devastating medical ordeal  The book reads like an unfolding mystery.  Are you familiar with it? – can’t remember the name.  Interested Reader

Dear Interested Reader, Yes - I recently read IN THE FACE OF CATASTROPHE by Jennifer Rose Goldman and Caryn Meg Hirshleifer, a remarkable tale of bravery and familial devotion.  Told from the perspectives of parents, a sibling, friends, and medical personnel, the book does indeed read like a novel with suspense and colorful characterization throughout. The story opens as Jenn, a thirty-one-year-old woman begins her workday in a well-known North Shore clothing store on – yes - the Miracle Mile! Moments into the day she suffers a massive stroke and so begins an incredible story of pain, trauma, fear, and devotion in which a seeming tragedy turns into a tale of extraordinary love and healing. Jenn, her parents and sister Amanda each tell in their own words their feelings, reactions, and the part they play during a year of unbelievable ups and downs.  Much is lost but much is gained as each of them finds strength in the face of the unknown.  There are echoes of the biblical tale of Job and his misfortunes as calamity after calamity befall the family, but the outcome is suffused with grace and gratitude.  A remarkable book that should be read by all - highly recommended!

 

Dear Great Book Guru, My favorite author is Barbara Pym and she is known among some readers as the Jerry Seinfeld of the literary world - she writes about nothing! Recently I read about a new novel that deals with just that: nothing really.  Have you heard of it? Into Nothing

Dear Into Nothing, Yes, I recently read THE ANTHROPOLOGISTS by Aysegul Savas and immediately thought of Pym. This is the story of the daily routines of Asya and Manu, a couple from an unknown country and set in yet another unknown country as they search for an apartment.  Each apartment offers a different way of life - depending on views, number of rooms, type of kitchen, location…  the multitude of small details that come together to make up a life. They take great pleasure in imagining each of the different scenarios the various apartments suggest. As they search, life goes on as parents and grandparents age, friendships are formed and broken, meals are described, consumed and forgotten.  Asya is a videographer, and she is determined to record a nearby park with its seasonal transitions, again emphasizing the delicate beauty of subtle change. The couple form a friendship with an elderly neighbor, and we observe the myriad of change that comes with age.  Throughout, we are party to Asya and Manu’s lives where nothing dramatic occurs, but their lives are recognized as being made up of fragmented beauty. The reader is inevitably made to think about and cherish those many barely remembered moments that indeed make up a life.  Highly recommended!