Editorial Reviews for Nominees
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Editorial Reviews for Nominees
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Score: 91+/100 (9.1+ out of 10)
The worse thing about life is that it will someday end, and the worse thing about being on top of the world is that you can't be there forever. IT WAS HER NEW YORK by C.O. Moed is a beautiful, poignant, painful, eye-opening, and surprisingly-humorous true story of Francis, a woman suffering from dementia near the end of her life, and the daughter who stuck with her 'til the end. The book follows an elderly and cognitively-declining Francis from her daughter's (Moed's) perspective. Francis was once a brilliant and passionate musician who was well respected in her community in New York. She grew up Jewish, a lesbian, and disabled (with a glass eye) at a time in America when all of those things were a shortcut to being discriminated against. However, what's admirable and fascinating about Francis is that she was unapologetically and bravely herself, even participating in marches and events, presumably before PRIDE was even a thing. Heck, basic civil rights were still a contentious issue around the time that Francis was growing up. Although you'd think her heritage and sexuality would be a major focus of the book (and it kinda is), it never overshadows or outshines the powerful and beautiful story going on between Francis and her daughter. This is one of many memoirs to cover the topic of cognitive decline during aging that have come our way in the last two years, and it's so interesting to compare and contrast them! Richard Lui's Enough About Me about two years ago didn't dive into the nuances of it, but did raise awareness and cover the struggles of caring for a cognitively declining parent the way that this book does. Never to Forget by Carlos Alvarado concerned preserving an elderly woman's rich cultural and historically-significant experiences as she loses her memories. It also concerns caring for someone in that state. These two books are tonally much more serious than IT WAS HER NEW YORK. However, IT WAS HER NEW YORK shines in a few other ways. First of all, it's funnier and more lighthearted than something like Never to Forget while covering many of the same topics. Second of all, the photographs add an extra layer of realism and grittiness to this book, which is otherwise lighthearted and even jovial. You really get the sense that this book is more of a celebration of life than a vigil or eulogy. Unfortunately, some of these pictures are blurry or appear as though the camera or person was moving, probably because they may have been taken on a flip phone or with an old disposable cam. When you really get down to it, this book is so funny. The humor is a large part of the entertainment and readability factors. At the same time, it's still touching and emotional compelling. It's amazing how the author was able to balance the two. For example, there are scenes in which elderly Francine insists on watching Sister Act and Singing in the Rain over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. And that's literally how the author/narration presents it. However, there's a lot to gain from that. First of all, they highlight how far gone Francine's memory and cognition are as she is unable to remember watching the movies before. Secondly, they demonstrate that there's still a lot of Francine in her despite her dementia, especially since she loves to sing along to certain scenes, highlighting her still-living love for music. Thirdly, it demonstrates the powerful and loving bond that remains between Moed and Francine as Moed still endures in watching these movies with her despite seeing them dozens (or even hundreds) of times. One of the scenes that made us feel like both laughing and crying was when Moed described how Francine would kinda compete with her in singing, often judging herself as the winner (better singer) afterward. It turns out that Moed would let her mother win because it was one of the only victories Francine could enjoy on a daily basis. How beautiful is that! Going back to the book's humorous side, though... there's something about the way that the author can write so sarcastically and facetiously that really got us going. For example, she later refers to her late mother (who was cremated) as “Mom-in-a-Can.” She doesn't do this disparagingly but rather to cope with the pain of the loss. There are also a lot of funny lines, some which have to do with things like nudity and bodily fluids. Again, the author doesn't seem to do this to be disrespectful or disparaging, but to make light of things that would otherwise be too disturbing and uncomfortable to read about. We appreciated that a lot. Now, there are times when this book is a little bit of an eyesore. Like we said about the photos, a lot of them don't seem to have been taken by a steady hand or with a good camera. We can understand that a lot of that wasn't under the author's control as that was the product of the times and situation. However, there were a few things the author could've controlled better. Exacerbating the eyesore problem, the formatting of the book seems to leave a little to be desired. It's in landscape format for some reason, which forces your head and eyes to go from about 12 inches to the left to 12 inches to the right. It can be like taking a haymaker several times. Also, there's something about the font and text shifting all over the place that's a bit irksome. We understand that text-editing software can be cumbersome, especially when dealing with images. However, we'd recommend avoiding changing font sizes (like at the beginning of a paragraph) or using italics in a situation like this when there's already so much going on. Overall, this was a lovely read that encapsulates the life of a great woman. Check it out on Amazon!
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