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Memory's last breath : field notes on my dementia

2017

Format:	Book
Author:	Saunders, Gerda, author.
Title:	Memory's last breath : field notes on my dementia / Gerda Saunders.
Edition:	First edition.
Publisher, Date:	New York : Hachette Books, 2017. ©2017
Description:	xi, 272 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
Summary:	Based on the "field notes" she keeps in her journal, Memory's Last Breath is Saunders' window into a life distorted by dementia. She writes about shopping trips cut short by unintentional shoplifting, car journeys derailed when she loses her bearings, and the embarrassment of forgetting what she has just said to a room of colleagues. Coping with the complications of losing short-term memory, Saunders nonetheless embarks on a personal investigation of the brain and its mysteries, examining science and literature, and immersing herself in vivid memories of her childhood in South Africa.
Subjects:	Saunders, Gerda -- Mental health. Dementia -- Patients -- Biography. Alzheimer's disease -- Patients -- Biography.
Genre:	Autobiographies. Autobiography.
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 259-272).
Contents:	Telling who I am before I forget -- Quantum puff adders and fractional memories -- The grammar of the disappearing self -- This is your brain on the fritz -- Of madness and love I -- Of madness and love II -- Makeovers in extremis -- The exit that dare not say its name.
LCCN:	2017003005
ISBN:	9780316502627 (hardcover) 0316502626 (hardcover)
OCLC:	960294165
System Availability:	3
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Publishers Weekly Review

Saunders (Blessings on the Sheep Dog) writes bravely about her early-onset dementia diagnosis, and nicely bridges the intensely personal experience of her failing mind with examinations of neurological science. Saunders, who emigrated to the U.S. from South Africa in 1984, includes "Dementia Field Notes" sidebars throughout the book that record ever-worsening daily struggles. These stand in contrast with the main text, in which she explores the essence of self, identity, and memories. Her evocative writing shows her to be a researcher and craftswoman, and to the reader her faculties seem undiminished. Saunders reflects on more than 60 years as a life-affirming dividual, an anthropology term that acknowledges that deep connections come from communal bonds continually established throughout a lifetime. She writes about her loving family life in her formative years as a white South African during apartheid, the cross-cultural experience of a new life in the U.S., and the challenges of parenting and academic life. Saunders draws on all of these experiences to guide readers through a primer on neuroscience, the unreliability of memory, and even the place of humans in the cosmos. Her discussion of whether and when to pursue assisted suicide is smart and does not diminish the hopeful voice of a self-described "Doña Quixote" as she fights her mental descent with dignity. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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