Tales from Rhapsody Home: Or, What They Don't Tell You About Senior Living

Gould, John

ISBN 10: 1565122801 / ISBN 13: 9781565122802

Published by Algonquin Books, 2000

Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority! Seller Inventory # S_450179056

Synopsis:

Down East Yankee John Gould, age ninety-two, has spent most of the last century observing and writing about the human condition. Now he presents a whole new perspective on life as he leads us into the brave new world of the assisted-living facility. Charming, sarcastic, despairing, flip, taciturn, erudite, and altogether wonderful--with a razor sharp wit and a knack for turning a phrase--Mr. Gould is an American original and a perfect tour guide. Whether he's complaining to management about his apartment windows that don't open or socializing with the other "inmates" at happy hour; whether wondering why they put a napkin over the stone-cold bread at dinner or taking comfort in the memories ("making do with the reruns") of his loving and eccentric collection of old friends and colleagues from Maine, Mr. Gould proves that you can write a funny book about a serious subject, namely, how we treat our elderly.

From the Back Cover: ONCE UPON a long-ago time, I was a fine-looking young man with fire in my eye, zeal in my heart, and a haircut that cost twenty-five cents." So begins Tales from Rhapsody Home, ninety-two-years-old John Gould's entertaining look at how he arrived, quite suddenly, at old age and found himself living in a retirement community. With razor-sharp wit and comic sensibility, Mr. Gould offers advice and guidance to those of us ready or not quite ready for the "comforts" of assisted living.

Rhapsody Home is a mythical name, but the place is real-John Gould and his wife, Dorothy, have been living there for the past four and a half years. Mr. Gould, the author of dozens of books about life in small-town Maine, turns his critical eye toward a different kind of small town. And he captures perfectly the absurd rules and quaint idiosyncrasies of this brave new world. Whether he's complaining to management about his windows that don't open or swapping tales at happy hour with Mr. Reynolds about his gas and her hernia, whether he's wondering why they put a napkin over the stone-cold bread at dinner or taking comfort from memories of his loving and eccentric collection of old friends and colleagues, Mr. Gould is by turns sarcastic, charming, taciturn, erudite, hilarious, and wicked-but he is always altogether wonderful. John Gould is an American original. The rest of us can only hope that when it's our turn to check into a Rhapsody Home, we're lucky enough to have a neighbor like him.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Tales from Rhapsody Home: Or, What They ...
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Publication Date: 2000
Binding: hardcover
Condition: Very Good