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Dance Me to the End: Ten Months and Ten Days with ALS Paperback – October 8, 2019
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"A mesmerizing memoir by a talented writer on coming to terms with the unexpected." ―Library Journal
Marty, age 57, was given a preliminary diagnosis of ALS by his family doctor. Seven weeks later, the diagnosis was confirmed by a neurologist. Ten months and ten days later, Marty passed away.
From day one, Alison, Marty’s spouse of over twenty-five years, kept a journal as a way to navigate the overwhelming state of her mind and soul. Soon the rawness of her words harmonized to tell the story of Marty’s diagnosis, illness, and decline. Her journal became a chronicle of caregiving as well as an emotional exploration of the tensions between the intuitive and the pragmatic, the logical and illogical, and the all-consuming demands of being both spouse and nurse. Divided into short pieces, some of which reads as free verse, Alison’s words are at times profoundly intense and painfully private.
The composition of the intricate notes of a life in its final movements includes another stanza of the journal that became Dance Me to the End: the guiding of children grappling with the imminent loss of a parent, and the shifting roles of family, friends, and community―all of which add their own complex rhythms.
Dance Me to the End is an evocative memoir about the emotional impact of witnessing a loved one suffer from a neurological, degenerative, and terminal disease. This is a detailed account of grief, shock and pain coexisting with the levity, laughter and love shared with her husband and sons in those final months of Marty's life.
- Print length320 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherTouchwood Editions
- Publication dateOctober 8, 2019
- Dimensions5.75 x 1 x 8.75 inches
- ISBN-101927366860
- ISBN-13978-1927366868
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"This lyrical debut . . . captures life as a series of snapshots, as a couple grows simultaneously closer together and further apart in the wake of a sudden life change . . . A mesmerizing memoir by a talented writer on coming to terms with the unexpected." ―Library Journal
"An achingly painful memoir . . . told with honesty and grace." ―Toronto Star
“A raw, elegant, and beautiful masterclass on love, loss, marriage, and grief from an unflinching storyteller. Brimming with poetic intensity and personal wisdom, Acheson’s memoir will move you to tears.” ―Lindsay Wong, author of The Woo Woo
"This elegant memoir bears precise and intimate witness to the experience of caring for a loved one with a terminal disease. It examines the rhythms of marital love―how care flourishes and frays, retracts and rallies―under the most difficult of situations. Alison Acheson has gifted us a book with a genuinely human and complex heart.” ―Kyo Maclear, author of Birds Art Life
“Dance Me to the End recounts one wife’s attempt to fulfil her vow to love ‘in sickness and in health,’ yet also to love and care for herself under the self-sacrificing demands of ALS. Acheson unflinchingly explores the nuanced and complicated emotions of the caregiver, the physical toll of caring, as well as the quotidian kindnesses and cruelties of health professionals and well-meaning strangers and friends. Fierce and tender, funny and utterly wrenching, this is as intimate a portrait of a marriage as I have ever read.” ―Caroline Adderson, author of Ellen in Pieces and A History of Forgetting
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Touchwood Editions (October 8, 2019)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 320 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1927366860
- ISBN-13 : 978-1927366868
- Item Weight : 14.7 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.75 x 1 x 8.75 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #342,409 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #797 in Medical Professional Biographies
- #3,983 in Women's Biographies
- #10,689 in Memoirs (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Alison Acheson lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. She has published 11 books for all ages, and teaches part-time in the writing program at the University of BC.
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers praise the book's writing style as beautiful and elegant. They find the love, light, and poetry in it mesmerizing and enlightening. The storytelling is described as wonderful, moving, and fascinating. Readers appreciate the author's honesty, fortitude, and strength. Overall, they describe the book as an affirming read that brings tears as well as laughter.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the memoir beautifully written with elegant words. They say the author does an amazing job finding the right words to describe her experience. The book explains the cruel disease well and shows the human side of a very difficult illness.
"...Even more, it is a beautifully written memoir filled with love, light, and poetry...." Read more
"...It shows the human side to a very difficult illness." Read more
"Read during a time of great duress, Ms. Carson's honesty was calm to a wounded soul...." Read more
"...writer’s talent to put her and her family’s experience into such elegant words. Thank you, Alison Acheson, for sharing this with us...." Read more
Customers find the book filled with love, light, and poetry. They describe it as a mesmerizing tribute to marriage and an enlightening summary of what it feels like to love the dying. The book brings tears, laughter, and sadness, but also strength and some sadness.
"...Even more, it is a beautifully written memoir filled with love, light, and poetry...." Read more
"A mesmerizing tribute to marriage, and an enlightening summary of what it feels like to lose a person you love, one piece at a time." Read more
"...Having a brother who currently has ALS, this book brought tears as well as laughter!" Read more
"Wonderful story full of love and strength and yes, some sadness...." Read more
Customers enjoy the storytelling. They find the book a fascinating journey into life, resistance, and love. The author's portrayal of her husband is memorable and profoundly moving.
"...love and generosity, and the picture she captures of her husband is memorable and profoundly moving. If you know nothing of ALS, you will learn...." Read more
"I thought this book was a wonderful story. I would recommend it to anyone who is caring for a loved one...." Read more
"...The words in this memoir have reached into a deep part of my heart, as I walk this ALS journey with my mom...." Read more
"This book was a breathtaking journey into life, resistance, and what it is to love and be loved...." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's honesty, fortitude, and love. They find it an affirming read about resistance and love. The book is described as an easy read that readers enjoy.
"...There are so many similarities in our experiences with ALS it is an affirming read, and I believe will be for anyone who has had a loved one succumb..." Read more
"This book was a breathtaking journey into life, resistance, and what it is to love and be loved...." Read more
"Loved Book!" Read more
"Easy read& very much enjoyed this book." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2020I lost my husband to ALS in ten months and sixteen days in 2012 and have been writing about our journey in poetry and nonfiction myself, so I was immediately drawn to Acheson's account of her own experiences with the same kind of loss. There are so many similarities in our experiences with ALS it is an affirming read, and I believe will be for anyone who has had a loved one succumb to ALS. Even more, it is a beautifully written memoir filled with love, light, and poetry. Acheson bears the aches of this devastating diagnosis with honesty and fortitude, with full on love and generosity, and the picture she captures of her husband is memorable and profoundly moving. If you know nothing of ALS, you will learn. If you know too much, you will feel less alone. Either way, this is a breathtaking memoir to embrace. May we all dance until the end.
- Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2020I thought this book was a wonderful story. I would recommend it to anyone who is caring for a loved one. It shows the human side to a very difficult illness.
- Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2023Read during a time of great duress, Ms. Carson's honesty was calm to a wounded soul. Forever grateful for reading such heart-held words of hurt, sorrow, and enormous lve.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2020I am currently about halfway through this book. I felt the need to take a break to write a review (something I rarely do). The words in this memoir have reached into a deep part of my heart, as I walk this ALS journey with my mom.
Have you ever read a book that you have to keep setting down in order to take a breath and process, or just let the tears come? This has been my experience so far...I am in awe of the writer’s talent to put her and her family’s experience into such elegant words.
Thank you, Alison Acheson, for sharing this with us. Now, I am going to pick up reading where I left off!
- Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2020This book was a breathtaking journey into life, resistance, and what it is to love and be loved. Alison has done an amazing job finding the right words to describe, what I can only assume to be, her painful path to acceptance.
I highly recommend this book. :)
- Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2021Loved Book!
- Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2022A mesmerizing tribute to marriage, and an enlightening summary of what it feels like to lose a person you love, one piece at a time.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2021Was so fascinating, that I could not out it down! Having a brother who currently has ALS, this book brought tears as well as laughter!
Top reviews from other countries
- Kindle CustomerReviewed in India on November 28, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
Very good book, journey of life with serious struggle, may inspire caretaker s.
- LostinBooksReviewed in Canada on November 9, 2019
5.0 out of 5 stars A most beautiful book that tells the truth about caregiving for a dying spouse
Dance Me to the End is one of those rare memoirs that you curl up with and don't put down until you are done. The author shares her very recent experience of looking after her husband, who is dying of ALS. The freshness of her experience is to the reader's benefit, because it is filled with details - sad or killingly funny - that make this book so piercingly intimate. It is a book that contains no platitudes. It will satisfy readers looking for a well-written, literary memoir with a compelling storyline. And it is ideal for people who are caring for someone with a devastating illness, who yearn for the company of another caregiver who tells it like it is
- Kelly ShorrocksReviewed in Canada on January 30, 2020
5.0 out of 5 stars Hearbreaking and heartmending
I read this book as research for my PhD, both in examining memoir while also looking at the theme of caregiving and grief. This book was stunningly written, with such gorgeous, tender moments, and the honesty and metaphor are so beautiful. One of the most affecting books I read this year.
- Cynthia WhiteReviewed in Canada on September 10, 2020
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent memoir
This book was recommended to me by a writer friend. It’s an excellent story of one woman’s journey taking care of her husband with ALS.