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Can't we talk about something more pleasant? : a memoir Cover Image Book

Can't we talk about something more pleasant? : a memoir / Roz Chast.

Chast, Roz, (author,, artist.).

Summary:

In her first memoir, Roz Chast brings her signature wit to the topic of aging parents. Spanning the last several years of their lives and told through a mixture of cartoons, family photos, documents, and a narrative as rife with laughs as it is with tears, Chast's memoir is both comfort and comic relief for anyone experiencing the life-altering loss of elderly parents. When it came to her elderly mother and father, Roz held to the practices of denial, avoidance, and distraction. But when Elizabeth Chast climbed a ladder to locate an old souvenir from the "crazy closet"--with predictable results--the tools that had served Roz well through her parents' seventies, eighties, and into their early nineties could no longer be deployed. While the particulars are Chast-ian in their idiosyncrasies--an anxious father who had relied heavily on his wife for stability as he slipped into dementia and a former assistant principal mother whose overbearing personality had sidelined Roz for decades--the themes are universal: adult children accepting a parental role; aging and unstable parents leaving a family home for an institution; dealing with uncomfortable physical intimacies; managing logistics; and hiring strangers to provide the most personal care.

Record details

  • ISBN: 1608198065
  • ISBN: 9781608198061
  • Physical Description: 228 pages : illustrations (some color), portraits ; 25 cm
  • Edition: First United States edition
  • Publisher: New York : Bloomsbury, 2014.

Content descriptions

General Note:
Subtitle from cover.
Formatted Contents Note:
The beginning of the end -- Return to the fold -- The elder lawyer -- Galapagos -- The fall -- Maimonides -- Sundowning -- The end of an era -- The move -- The old apartment -- The place -- The next step -- Kleenex abounding -- Postmortem -- Elizabeth, alone -- Bedtime stories -- Chrysalis -- The end.

Search for related items by subject

Subject:
Chast, Roz > Family > Comic books, strips, etc.
Adult children of aging parents > Family relationships > United States > Comic books, strips, etc.
Aging parents > Care > United States > Comic books, strips, etc.
Aging parents > Family relationships > United States > Comic books, strips, etc.
Cartoonists > United States > Biography > Comic books, strips, etc.
Graphic novels > United States.
Wit and humor, Pictorial.
Genre:
Wit and humor, Pictorial.
Biographies.
Comics (Graphic works)
Graphic novels.

Available copies

  • 2 of 2 copies available at NC Cardinal. (Show)
  • 1 of 1 copy available at Onslow County Public Library.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 2 total copies.
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Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Jacksonville Main Library BIO CHAST (Text) 36015000666707 Adult Biography Available -

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MARC Record

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24510. ‡aCan't we talk about something more pleasant? : ‡ba memoir / ‡cRoz Chast.
250 . ‡aFirst United States edition
264 1. ‡aNew York : ‡bBloomsbury, ‡c2014.
264 4. ‡c©2014
300 . ‡a228 pages : ‡billustrations (some color), portraits ; ‡c25 cm
336 . ‡astill image ‡bsti ‡2rdacontent
336 . ‡atext ‡btxt ‡2rdacontent
337 . ‡aunmediated ‡bn ‡2rdamedia
338 . ‡avolume ‡bnc ‡2rdacarrier
500 . ‡aSubtitle from cover.
5050 . ‡aThe beginning of the end -- Return to the fold -- The elder lawyer -- Galapagos -- The fall -- Maimonides -- Sundowning -- The end of an era -- The move -- The old apartment -- The place -- The next step -- Kleenex abounding -- Postmortem -- Elizabeth, alone -- Bedtime stories -- Chrysalis -- The end.
520 . ‡aIn her first memoir, Roz Chast brings her signature wit to the topic of aging parents. Spanning the last several years of their lives and told through a mixture of cartoons, family photos, documents, and a narrative as rife with laughs as it is with tears, Chast's memoir is both comfort and comic relief for anyone experiencing the life-altering loss of elderly parents. When it came to her elderly mother and father, Roz held to the practices of denial, avoidance, and distraction. But when Elizabeth Chast climbed a ladder to locate an old souvenir from the "crazy closet"--with predictable results--the tools that had served Roz well through her parents' seventies, eighties, and into their early nineties could no longer be deployed. While the particulars are Chast-ian in their idiosyncrasies--an anxious father who had relied heavily on his wife for stability as he slipped into dementia and a former assistant principal mother whose overbearing personality had sidelined Roz for decades--the themes are universal: adult children accepting a parental role; aging and unstable parents leaving a family home for an institution; dealing with uncomfortable physical intimacies; managing logistics; and hiring strangers to provide the most personal care.
60010. ‡aChast, Roz ‡xFamily ‡vComic books, strips, etc.
650 0. ‡aAdult children of aging parents ‡xFamily relationships ‡zUnited States ‡vComic books, strips, etc.
650 0. ‡aAging parents ‡xCare ‡zUnited States ‡vComic books, strips, etc.
650 0. ‡aAging parents ‡xFamily relationships ‡zUnited States ‡vComic books, strips, etc.
650 0. ‡aCartoonists ‡zUnited States ‡vBiography ‡vComic books, strips, etc.
650 0. ‡aGraphic novels ‡zUnited States.
650 0. ‡aWit and humor, Pictorial. ‡0(CARDINAL)258352
655 0. ‡aWit and humor, Pictorial.
655 7. ‡aBiographies. ‡2lcgft ‡0(CARDINAL)326681
655 7. ‡aComics (Graphic works) ‡2lcgft ‡0(CARDINAL)340157
655 7. ‡aGraphic novels. ‡2lcgft ‡0(CARDINAL)340153
902 . ‡aMARCIVE 202012
902 . ‡aMARCIVE 202203
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