When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

I bought this book shortly after it was published and must confess that it has taken me almost a year to have the courage to actually read it.  It is the first-person memoir of a brilliant young neurosurgeon who, shortly before completing his residency at the age of 36, was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer.

The book terrified me because my sister had been a brilliant oncologist who, at the height of her professional accomplishments, died of cancer less than a week after her 51^st birthday.  Although I was with her throughout her journey, it has still remained a puzzle to me how a physician—someone who has spent her career either curing cancer or easing the suffering of those who would not survive—could face her own terminal diagnosis.  My sister and I didn’t talk much about her mental or spiritual state, but she would answer any medical questions with a clinical precision that eventually left me unwilling to ask too much. I have always felt that maybe I failed her.  How could I comfort and care for her if I never dared probe the fears and doubts she left unspoken under her mask of professional detachment?

So I hoped this book would provide me with an opportunity to peak behind that mask. It did not.  Dr. Kalanithi’s experience was very different than my sister’s.  He was diagnosed with stage IV cancer  so knew that it was probably terminal from the beginning.  My sister’s cancer crept up on her, proving to be resistant to surgery and chemo before it became apparent that it would be terminal.

That being said this is an enormously powerful memoir. Part one of the book describes his early life, the influences that led him to a career in medicine and his training.  Much of this section talks about his interest in mind, neuroscience and identity, and how he learned to manage the enormous responsibility of making life and death decisions as well as his strategies for coping when nothing could save his patients. Part two describes his life and actions after his diagnosis. 

Throughout he addresses issues of mortality not just from the perspective of a physician, but also from that of a philosopher and a student of literature who had spend much of his far too brief life struggling to understand the meaning of individual existence.

Three and a half smileys out of five. 😀😀😀😶

Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

This is another book club title. It is not something that I would normally read, but I just loved it.  The novel is beautifully written with a cinematic sweep, and the author sets up a truly compelling story line.

A private jet crashes into the water shortly after taking off from Martha's Vineyard on a short commuter flight to New York.  On board is the CEO of a controversial cable news network, his wife, two children and body guard; the senior partner of a financial firm who is currently under investigation by the Treasury Department and his wife; a recovering alcoholic painter who is hoping for a comeback; and the crew.  Only two people survive.

Representatives of the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Administration, the FBI, the Treasury Department, and the plane's manufacturer, all try to establish the reason for the crash, but each comes to the task with their own biases. And media outlets are circling the crash and its survivors like sharks sensing blood in the water.

The brilliance of this novel is that it combines a compellingly page-turning mystery with a thoughtful (and sometimes hilarious) indictment of the 24 hour news cycle and info-tainment entities similar to Fox News, the emergence of the super-wealthy, and celebrity culture. Along the way the author also manages to muse on the essence of heroism; the nature of truth in the age of artifice; and the role of art in the age of truthiness.

However there was much debate in my bookclub on whether the final explanation of the crash and resolution of conflicts were satisfying.  I personally thought the ending was logical and illuminated many of the themes in the novel, but others in the group felt that it was too abrupt or not psychologically convincing.  Any novel that tries to encompass so much will inevitably leave some unsatisfied, and I don't necessary think it is an indictment of a writer's craft for the reader to wish that he had spent more time exploring a particular character or theme.

Four and a half out of five smileys. 😀😀😀😀😶

The Last Goodbye by Matt Potter

The Last Goodbye came to my attention when the author was interviewed on CBC last fall.  It is not something I would normally pick up, but its subject matter amused me as I had just left a job. It is a somewhat serious, somewhat whimsical examination of the oft-neglected art of the resignation letter.  The author is not only an aficionado of the dramatic exit, but a practitioner, as he has ghost-written many resignation letters for others.

He identifies seven themes or approaches that can be discerned in the genre and provides numerous examples of how they have been publicly expressed. These themes include the "Conversation Killer," the "Insider Hit," the "Kamikaze Protest" and the "F*** You and Goodbye" among others.  In his first chapter, "The Truth Bomb," he explores such famous public resignations as Greg Smith's open letter published in the New York Times where he exposed the "toxic and destructive" environment at Goldman Sachs and George Orwell's resignation from the BBC that began "For some time past I have been conscious that I was wasting my own time and the public money on doing work that produces no result." Potter offers an in-depth analysis of many resignations revealing the often hidden sub-text of the message.

Throughout he provides insights into the many ways employees express themselves when they can no longer maintain the status quo.  From the Jet Blue steward who famously released his plane's emergency chute and slid down to freedom to George Bush's resignation letter to the NRA, each story provides compelling insights into human psychology. In some letters, you can hear the squeak of a rat as it tries to take the moral high ground just before abandoning a sinking ship, while in others you hear the distinctive snap of a loyal and long-suffering employee finally breaking. Potter also discusses how employers respond and the crisis-management techniques initiated when they are faced with a high-profile defection.

So if you find yourself burdened under the supervision of a micromanager who finds fault with everything and losses it if he doesn't get his way or you are experiencing the subtler tortures of working for a thin-skinned narcissist who is oblivious to the needs of her subordinates, this book may provide you with vicarious thrills and cathartic relief or even inspire you to finally craft your own "last good bye."

Three and a half smileys out of five. 😀😀😀😶

Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson

Full disclosure: I ADORE Eden Robinson.

I was her publicist at McClelland & Stewart when they published Blood Sports, and it was the most fun I ever had at work without being formally reprimanded. On one mild winter day, we found ourselves tramping through an abandoned building in downtown Toronto with a photographer from the Globe and Mail.  He had suggested the location because he wanted authentic urban decay for the photo shoot.  I held her coat while Eden good-naturedly picked her way through the rubble and posed amid debris and broken glass. She somehow managed to look both incredibly glamorous and fiercely dangerous. The entire time she cracked jokes and laughed loudly--Eden has the best laugh in the business. Needless to say, the author photo that accompanied the Globe review was stunning.

Son of a Trickster is her first novel since Blood Sports came out in 2006.  The new novel has many of the character-types and themes that fans of Robinson have come to expect--Indigenous youth trying to make emotional connections and do the right thing while living chaotic lives, where poverty, alcohol, drugs and violence are ever present to derail their hopes and ambitions.  Although the tone is dark and there are numerous violent incidents, Son of a Trickster doesn't have the extremely graphic violence of Blood Sports. True Story: While preparing for Blood Sports' launch party, an intern and I gleefully drizzled bright red nail polish on the invitations to simulate random blood spatter.

The protagonist in Son of a Trickster is Jared: 16 years old and coping with his mother who swears vigorously and is prone to unexpected acts of physical violence; her drug-dealer boyfriend Richie; Jared's dead-beat father, stepmother and stepsister; a new girlfriend; and the usual collection of high-school jocks, goths, and geeks. He parties too much, makes some extra money baking and selling pot cookies, and has a tendency to mouth off more than is considered healthy. But he is intelligent, kind and generous; and he tries to protect anyone weaker than himself, in spite of his mother's constant reminders that "The world is hard. You have to be harder."  To add to his troubles, his maternal grandmother will have nothing to do with him because she thinks he is a Trickster; ravens sometimes talk to him; he doesn't always recognize his own inner voice; and he's being stalked by an elderly Native woman in a burgundy Cadillac. There's definitely a lot going on in Jared's life.

As Jared tries to navigate the contemporary world of Walking Dead marathons, Idle No More protests, and his dangerously messed-up family, he is also forced to acknowledge the indigenous spirit world and his place in it.

Eden weaves together the various strands of her novel in such a way that the gritty realism and the supernatural seem equally plausible, and it is all held together by her wonderful wit and quirky humour.  It is also a tale that speaks to our need for national reconciliation. Throughout the novel there are references to the harms committed through government policies hostile to Indigenous peoples and culture: the residential schools, the spread of Tuberculosis, the loss of Indigenous languages, and the damage done to the natural world. Just as Jared must face his ancestral legacy and reconcile it with his modern world; we, as a country, need to address our colonial past and negotiate a new partnership with our Indigenous populations.

Whether you read it as an allegory for reconciliation, a coming of age tale, or a witty exploration of contemporary culture, Son of a Trickster will not disappoint.

Four and a half smileys out of five. 😀😀😀😀😶

For those in the Charlottetown area, Eden Robinson will be reading at the Winter Tales Author Reading Series on March 13th, 2017.  It will be a wonderful opportunity to hear her read, and if we're lucky hear her laugh--did I mention she has the best laugh in the business?