Phoning Home: Essays
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.45 (620 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 161117371X |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 136 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-11-21 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
In each essay, he reaches some sort of equilibrium, a kind of intellectual epiphany that doesn't come easily; instead, it feels raw and hard-earned."--Rachel Aviv, staff writer at the New Yorker . "Entertaining, intelligent and compassionate essays that provoke reflection." - Kirkus Review (starred review)"Superbly written and replete with deftly crafted character sketches, these are essays as candid as they are entertaining, and as entertaining as they are memorable."--JACK MASON, Midwest Book Review"In essay after essay, Appel holds the reader's attention through a combination of wit, self-deprecation, wisdom, incisive knowledge and a deep sense of compassion and empathy for his fellow human beings. His essays are gentle, crisp, self-mocking, and sneakily absurd. Phoning Home is a worthy addition to the pantheon of great American essays."--Girija Sankar, New Pages Book
"We'd just visited my grandaunt in Miami Beach, the last time we would ever see her. We learn of the crank phone calls he made to his own family, the conspicuous absence of Jell-O at his grandaunt's house, and family secrets long believed buried. The stories capture the author's distinctive voice--a blend of a physician's compassion and an ethicist's constant questioning.. At times sardonic and at others self-deprecating, Appel lays bare the most private aspects of his emotional life. Jacob M. Shortly thereafter Fat and Thin were lost forever--beginning, when Appel was just six years old, what he calls his "private apocalypse." Both erudite and full-hearted, Appel recounts storylines ranging from a bout of unrequited love gone awry to the poignant romance of his grandparents. I had my two travel companions, Fat and Thin, securely buckled into the backseat of my mother's foul-tempered Dodge Dart," writes Appel of his family vacation with his two favorite rubber cat toys. Appel's recollections and insights, informed and filtered by his advanced degrees in medicine, law, and ethics, not only inspire nostalgic feelings but also offe
"Captivating" according to bernadette hopke. I enjoyed this book as much as all the others I have read. The stories enthrall me and always have my thoughts going in different directions about life and death. Just everyday happenings around you. I love his writing style and honesty in his words. How you feel every emotion there is. I just want to keep reading them! I received this for an honest review. Thank You!. Grady Harp said `When one includes the possibility of posthumous influence, no human being ever reaches his or her half-life.'. Once reading one of the Appel novels/books an addiction occurs. That Jacob M Appel is such an extraordinarily fine writer, certainly among the top rung of serious authors in America at present, seems foremost in a resume of his achievements - this coming of course from an admitted devotee of his books such as THE BIOLOGY OF LUCK and SCOUTING FOR THE REAPER - until the extent of his life's work to date is surveyed. Thus the following from a previous review written in respon. "Phoning Home to Open Your Eyes" according to Shay VanZwoll. Jacob M. Appel has a rare gift of writing essays that do not bore me. And at the end of a long day of work or even after a short day, I want to read something that I can enjoy. So when I find myself curled up on the couch reading a book of essays for hours upon hours, you know that it has to be not only well written, but interesting and enjoyable. All three of those adjectives apply to "Phoning Home: Essays".Starting with an essay about a phone prankster, this book follows
Henry Award, Best American Short Stories, Best American Non-required Reading, Best American Essays, and the Pushcart Prize anthology on mulitple occasions. . Jacob M. Appel is a physician, attorney, and bioethicist based in New York City. He also writes about the nexus of law and medicine, contributing to many leading publications including the New York Times