Seventy-one, and a man used to controlling those around him, Saul struggles to make peace with his disconnected family before Alzheimer’s consumes his sanity.
His ramblings, humor, emotions, lucid moments, and confusion are laid bare, as well as the thoughts and feelings of his loved ones: his wife, Monique, conflicted and depressed…caring, yet angry; his daughter, Florence, compassionate, yet … compassionate, yet proper and reserved; his son, Joey, self-centered and narcissistic, seemingly indifferent to his family’s challenges; and his doctor, an Alzheimer’s specialist, who cares for Saul until his final days.
From the beginning Saul and his family know how it has to end, because no one has ever outsmarted Alzheimer’s. But as they navigate the meandering road that will eventually bring Saul’s demise, they leave behind their once disconnected lives and come together to weather their difficult journey.
Heartfelt and moving, this lauded novel, winner of 2014 gold medals from the Independent Publisher Book Awards, Readers’ Favorite Book Awards, and the Living Now Book Award for Inspirational Fiction, will appeal to fans of Lisa Genova’s Still Alice or Nicholas Sparks’s The Notebook.
Revised edition: This edition of An Absent Mind includes editorial revisions.
Best Book Of 2014 – Alzheimer’s Weekly
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This is the best book I have read regarding Alzheimer’s. My husband had this disease, and a few months after his death, I read this book, against my son’s advice. The author captured the mind of the patient in an unbelievable way. So many of the things that happened I could remember in my husband, and it actually brought me some comfort and …
This novel was written as if it was an actual memoir and I felt as if I became a member of the family. I will read it again and again as I learn to deal with the loss of beloved family members.
Interesting to read and feel the emotion the writer portrays. Something we all fear as we age ourselves.
Scary as all get out
This was a marvelous read. Yes you figure what the ending will be, but not the complexity and the emotions of all of the characters including thw man with Alzheimers his.family and friends. I have worked with patients with declining cognitive communicative and motor skills and this book reflects the downward spiral.
For people with Alzheimer’s in their family, should be a must read!
This book gives perspective from all family members and how alzheimer and the lose/change of their loved one’s relationship. It also explains how the patient can regress in mind and body. Loneliness is a prime example. I had planned to share with someone who has a spouse going through this and after finishing the book I felt is would leave them …
Having been a caregiver for 12 years of a person with dementia, although not Alzheimer’s, I thought this book a realistic venture into the world of caregiving and the toll it takes on the family. There’s the emotions of resentment, guilt, fear, selfishness, regret, redemption, heartbreak, anger and just about any other emotion one could go …
The book is informative on a subject with which we may all become familiar, whether we like it or not!
Tough subject. Well written.
Very informative
This was a painful but powerful read because it so realistically depicted the progression of Alzheimer’s from various viewpoints, from patient to caregiver to children–makes you want to donate to cure this monstrous disease.
Realistic depiction of a family dealing with Alzheimer’s
I thought it was quite accurate in explaining the emotions and family dynamics that accompany living with dementia. I liked the way the author had each family member alternating describing their experience including the father who was diagnosed.
Educational regarding a dreadful disease and we’ll written
A good book to read learn a lot about alsheimers, sad book
This is a story about an older gentleman who gets the diagnosis in his early 70s. The story is told in the first person, and each chapter is told by a member of his family. We hear how is wife, his daughter, and his son are dealing with his Alzheimer’s as well as from the patient – Saul – himself. Saul views things very differently than his …
Fast easy read that stays with you and haunts you long after you finish reading it.