Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Debut Released Today: The Submission

Those of us in the Mastic-Mastic Beach-Shirley area still vividly remember September 11th, 2001. With the ten year anniversary fast approaching, former New York Times reporter Amy Waldman's debut novel The Submission is being heralded as a solid choice to stimulate reflection and debate. According to the review in the August issue of Bookpage (free copies of which are available monthly at your Community Library), "Waldman's novel proves that thoughtful fiction can be more illuminating than fact." Set two years after 9/11, a panel of judges selects an architectural design for a memorial at Ground Zero from several anonymous submissions. Controversy begins when the winner turns out to be a Muslim-American and only gains momentum when his design is interpreted to have Islamic connotations. In an eerie echo of the recent, real-life mosque-at-Ground Zero debate, Waldman uses multiple points of view to ask the reader what America has learned as a nation since the 9/11 attacks.

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

Debut Released Today: The Submission

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