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The Two Kinds of Decay: A Memoir
The Two Kinds of Decay A Memoir
Author: Sarah Manguso
The events that began in 1995 might keep happening to me as long as things can happen to me. Think of deep space, through which heaven...  more »es fly forever. They fly until they change into new forms, simpler forms, with ever fewer qualities and increasingly beautiful names.

 

There are names for things in spacetime that are nothing, for things that are less than nothing. White dwarfs, red giants, black holes, singularities.

 

But even then, in their less-than-nothing state, they keep happening.

 

At twenty-one, just starting to comprehend the puzzles of adulthood, Sarah Manguso was faced with another: a wildly unpredictable disease that appeared suddenly and tore through her twenties, vanishing and then returning, paralyzing her for weeks at a time, programming her first to expect nothing from life and then, furiously, to expect everything. In this captivating story, Manguso recalls her nine-year struggle: arduous blood cleansings, collapsed veins, multiple chest catheters, the deaths of friends and strangers, addiction, depression, and, worst of all for a writer, the trite metaphors that accompany prolonged illness. A book of tremendous grace and self-awareness, The Two Kinds of Decay transcends the very notion of what an illness story can and should be.
ISBN-13: 9780374280123
ISBN-10: 0374280126
Publication Date: 5/27/2008
Pages: 192
Edition: 1
Rating:
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
 5

3 stars, based on 5 ratings
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
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Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed The Two Kinds of Decay: A Memoir on + 9 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This book is a compelling read it makes you think about how lucky one can be. It's a testimony to one woman's resiliance when the terrible thing happens to her, not to some stranger.

Manguso has the courage to revisit her devastating illness, and the wisdom to find the ironies, the lessons, and even the humor in her experience.

Through her sharing of the story of those terrifying sick years, she lets us see the indomitable spirit and the sense of humor that enabled her to survive them and heal.

She juxtaposes pictures of illness against the lyrical beauty of her writing. I find new treasures whenever I reread it.
Read All 1 Book Reviews of "The Two Kinds of Decay A Memoir"


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