Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Comic Fiction Prize goes to Super Sad True Love Story

Looking for something funny to read? The Guardian reported that Super Sad True Love Story recently won the UK's Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction, the first book by a US author to do so. This book by Gary Shteyngart tells the story of middle-aged Russian-American Lenny Abramov. Living in a depressing near-future America, Lenny is obsessed with three things: living forever, his books (or "printed, bound media artifacts," as they're now known), and Eunice Park, a 24-year-old Korean-American who both entices and torments him. But despite the title, perhaps this love story will not have a super sad ending...

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

Genre: Adult Non-Fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5

"Being Mortal is about the limitations of what modern medicine can provide for people as their lives draw to a close. Gawande argues that the objective of medicine should not merely be treatment and survival; medical care should also ensure dignity in death and having control over one's final moments. He argues that instead of aggressively fighting the inescapable realities of aging, we should ask the hard questions of ourselves and our loved ones -- What makes life worth living? When should we try to extend our lives, and when should we choose a better quality of our remaining days over extending their quantity?

This book is difficult to read. Not because of the way Gawande writes -- his style is highly engaging, and he never lapses into excessively scientific jargon or overly simplistic explanations -- but because of the tough subject matter. Gawande draws on his own experiences as a doctor and peppers his book with honest and humane stories of his patients, friends, and family; the stories he tells make the book more accessible, and also more heartbreaking. (And that's not a bad thing.)

No one likes to think about their loved ones', or their own, impending mortality. But it's important to have these hard conversations, because as Gawande says, "endings matter." - Amanda

Comic Fiction Prize goes to Super Sad True Love Story

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