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Der Bisher Beste Tag Meines Lebens (2010)

by Greg Ames(Favorite Author)

3.46 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

3869301783 (ISBN13: 9783869301785)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Steidl

review 1: I didn't really know what to make of this book while I was reading it, but I blew through it in three sittings, which says something really powerful about the storytelling. As a Western New York native, I was curious how the Buffalo setting would play out, and Ames does a good job of not trying too hard. The writing is simple and clear, which makes it a great read, but always underlines some of the bigger issues of the book. It deals with some serious family dynamics without being overly self-invovled. It's not a treatise on the right to die but a very subtle nudge on the right to live, on growing up and on becoming ourselves.
review 2: Full disclosure - I am from Buffalo and hopefully my love of this city doesn't color my review to badly. I read this a few yea... morers ago and was cleaning out my bookcase so I thought I would share my thoughts.James lives in NYC and comes home to Buffalo to finally set his mother free of her current suffering. She has Alzheimers and had begged him to help her end her life. James writes greeting cards for a living and does not love his job and he has no real substantial relationships in NYC. Thus begins his trip back home.He comes home to find that dad is wallowing and sad, his old friends that are still in town are still doing the same thing and that it's cold and snowy. This could be Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Syracuse - wherever, but I am glad this author chose Buffalo.It was fun to hear him mention Mike's Subs - a place all high school kids go for a sub (still to this day) and they really are only ok - nothing special at all but for some reason we all went there. It was fun to picture the actual streets he was talking of and how many times I have been to those same spots.You can see the symobolism he is creating here - he is bummed, his dad is depressed, he is going to end his mom's life, his friends haven't changed, his job sucks and all of this is in the backdrop of a cold, somewhat depressed locale. His life mirrors the city or the city mirrors his life.Anyway - there is a twist to the ending that surprised me - I mean really surprised me. Kudos to the author. This book is fairly well paced and has some great one liners - the humor is perfect and there are a few tears. Give this a try - I don't think you will be disappointed less

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