Greg O'Brien

After being diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's, Greg O'Brien decided to chronicle his life. His background as a professional journalist provides a "cognitive reserve" he can draw on to write, along with lots of help from Google when he struggles to recall certain words. This is an important book to remind us that people live with Alzheimer's, sometimes for a long time, before they die from it. I learned things about the disease that I hadn't known, such as the presence of hallucinations. And, in the author, I found someone who inspires me to face life's challenges.… (más)

This book is amazing. The author wrote it after his diagnosis with Alzheimer's disease, and I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this. I had always thought of Alzheimer's as kind of a slow death, with your mind shutting down and no possible recovery, and in a sense it is, but O'Brien demonstrates all the life that still endures through the various stages of this disease. As he says early on, it's not a book about dying of Alzheimer's, but about living with it. It's a manifesto; and an affirmation of self; and a painful acknowledgement of the fleeting nature of, well, everything; and most poignantly, a celebration of the delight of living. This is a memoir, but instead of chronicling his past, he's detailing his present and his inevitable future. He's doing more than marking time--he's living. And even as everything changes, even as his mind is destroyed, bit by bit, and he is further isolated from everyone (including himself), he's still there. As with any memoir, so much of the book's worth depends on the character of the author. Here, O'Brien's personality shines through, his warmth, his humor, his pain, his down-to-earth sensibilities--the whole package. I expected that this might be a good book for people to read who have friends or family with Alzheimer's disease. Now, I think it's a good book for anybody. Period.

I received this book for free from Goodreads firstreads giveaways.… (más)

Greg O'Brien shares his voyage into deep space, a metaphor he uses to describe Alzheimer’s, with candor and astonishing insight. On Pluto is as much Greg's own story as it is his recollections of his mother’s struggles against the same disease. He attests – and confirms my belief – that “those suffering from dementia and other mental handicaps still observe and can retain far more than one might imagine”.

The book ends with chilling projections of the social and economic impact of caring for the growing number of Alzheimer’s patients along with a call for increased research and a list of available resources for caregivers and those who want to learn more about this disease.

I received this book for free through the Goodreads First Reads program.
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