No one should feel like this in their twenties.

My goal for the weekend: I have got to find some lighter reading material.

Last night I was looking for something new to read on my pile of library books, and my glance fell upon a slim book titled The Two Kinds of Decay. I had requested this book at some point, but I couldn't remember why I had asked for it or what it was about.

Turns out it's a memoir of a young woman in her twenties, who suffered from mutliple bouts with a rare disease called chronic idiopathic demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP), which (as far as I can understand) is a disease in which the immune system attacks the healthy myelin around nerves, leading tingling and numbness of the extremities, and eventually difficulty breathing.

The author, Sarah Manguso, is also a poet, and that sensibility can be seen easily throughout her memoir, which is comprised of short chapters of short paragraphs, all displaying a masterful use of language. What's disturbing are the procedures she's often describing (such as apheresis, in which the plasma in her blood was replaced) with that economy of language:

"The fresh frozen plasma was thawed before it was infused. The four half-liter glass bottles of albumin were left at room temperature.

For the first twenty or thirty apheresis sessions, I lay under several blankets, which didn't help the cold but helped me think at least I was trying.

The temperature in blood vessels is warmer than room temperature, of course, by about thirty degrees Fahrenheit. I was very clowly infused with several liters of fluid that was thirty degrees colder than the rest of my body." (p. 39.)

And that's one of the less scary descriptions; it only gets worse from there. This is an unsettling book, and I won't tell you how it ends or what happens (although, mirroring my thought when reading the above of, "Christ, they can't warm the albumin up a bit first?", they do eventually address that issue). But it's quite different from anything else you'll read, and I would recommend it. I must say that I for one am impressed at Manguso's lack of hysteria, considering that she is a woman who knows a little something about idiot doctors and half-ass nurses.

But the fact remains: I need to find something lighter going into the weekend.

Comments

[Jessica]

How about Requiem for a Dream or Deliverance or The Kindly Ones?

(dark humor)

[Citizen Reader]

Jessica,
When I worked at the library, every time I shelved the movie "Deliverance," I thought, hey, this is a classic, I should really take it home and watch it. And every time I shelved it instead--just couldn't do it.

You are evil, like the fruits of the devil! I love me some good dark humor but not the rest of this week, I don't think.

[Beth]

um, this one might be my fault. i know i listed it as one of my favorite books of the year, not because it's cheerful, but because her prose is absolutely gorgeous, and it's so quotable, i wish i had it on hand. so double recommendation from me.

i'm totally blanking on light reading right now however, as i have stephen king's under the dome in my lap.

[Citizen Reader]

Beth,
Hey, I bet that's it! Thanks for the suggestion. I really have to start writing down what I'm ordering and why...although I know I'm not that organized.

No worries about light reading. I might go see what my library owns in the way of P.G. Wodehouse, and that will take care of that.

[Venta]

Hi, C.R.!

Here are my recommendations for funny reads which could also be light reads.

The Wishbones by Tom Perrotta about a group of guys in their twenties/thirties who are still trying to make it as a band. Very funny. I adored this book.

Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger. Again, a very funny book about a smart ass kid who begins writing letters to a baseball player. Takes place in the 1940s so World War II is in there, too.

For a quick and wonderful light read (written for middle school kids but still highly recommended because it is so delightful)is Gary D.Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars. On Wednesdays, Holling's classmates either go to Hebrew or Catholic instruction leaving him alone with his teacher who makes him read Shakespeare. He knows his teacher hates him.

Regardless of what you choose to read, I hope it brings you joy.

[Rachael]

I will not be reading this book. Just, will not. (If you want another bleak on try Losing the Garden, a memoir by a woman who basically let her husband commit suicide by mountain. Fascinating, but sad and frustrating.)

Jessica, you made me laugh. Requiem for a Dream (the movie) made me sick to my stomach; the last 5 minutes still haunt me.

Jen Lancaster always makes me laugh, especially the first 2/3 of Bitter is the New Black. Chelsea Cain's Confession's of a Teen Sleuth is also great--a satire of the Nancy Drew books, and a very fast read.

[Citizen Reader]

Thanks, Venta! I always appreciate the suggestions, although I think after "Little Children" I've been turned off Tom Perrotta forever. I don't know why. I just remember disliking that book intensely. But The Wednesday Wars sounds enchanting, and I always love a good quick YA read.

Rachael,
Yeah, I can't blame you. Before I knew too much about its subject matter I was already in too deep reading it, but holy cow, what a scary medical story. And, I think at your suggestion, I did try "Losing the Garden" just recently, but it was too sad--I had to take it back to the library. It was compelling though--some day I want to get it back.

Interesting about the movie "Requiem..." Sick to your stomach doesn't sound good but I did always want to see it. And thanks for your suggestions too!

[Laura]

Requiem is a really good movie but afterward I did feel like someone had poked me in the eyes with a fork for 2 hours.

As for light reading, I love Connie Willis, especially Bellwether and To Say Nothing of the Dog (although Passage and Doomsday Book were heavier). I also like funny personal essays, like Laurie Notaro's Idiot Girls books. I'm also a fan of the fun YA read and I just heard of one that looks fun: I am a Genius of Staggering Evil and I Want to be your Class President (http://www.amazon.com/Genius-Unspeakable-Evil-Class-President/dp/1595142401) although I haven't read it myself yet (boy, I hope I didn't hear about that book on here - that would be embarrassing!). I also love Sharon Shinn's YA fantasy - Truth Teller's Tale, Dream Weaver's Magic, etc.

[Jessica]

We watched Requiem in college and afterward, we all had a group hug. Then we had to tell knock-knock jokes for about half an hour to try to bring our moods back up.

Seriously, though, have you read The Spellman Files? I love that series and they're all funny. Or you could read something like The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog - Mo Willems writes children's books, but it would be impossible to get through one and still be down afterward.