Still Alice
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4.5 • 214 Ratings
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
In Lisa Genova’s extraordinary New York Times bestselling novel, an accomplished woman slowly loses her thoughts and memories to Alzheimer’s disease—only to discover that each day brings a new way of living and loving. Now a major motion picture starring Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, Kate Bosworth, and Kristen Stewart!
Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children and a house on the Cape, is a celebrated Harvard professor at the height of her career when she notices a forgetfulness creeping into her life. As confusion starts to cloud her thinking and her memory begins to fail her, she receives a devastating diagnosis: early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Fiercely independent, Alice struggles to maintain her lifestyle and live in the moment, even as her sense of self is being stripped away. In turns heartbreaking, inspiring, and terrifying, Still Alice captures in remarkable detail what it’s like to literally lose your mind...
Reminiscent of A Beautiful Mind, Ordinary People, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Still Alice packs a powerful emotional punch and marks the arrival of a strong new voice in fiction.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
We were bowled over by this powerful story of a brilliant mind ravaged by Alzheimer’s disease. Author Lisa Genova—a Harvard-trained neuroscientist—details the slow unravelling of linguistic psychologist Alice Howland with great care, crafting crystal-clear moments of disorientation, family strife, and heartbreak. Genova’s remarkable heroine inspired an astounding film performance by Julianne Moore, earning her an Oscar®.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Neuroscientist and debut novelist Genova mines years of experience in her field to craft a realistic portrait of early onset Alzheimer's disease. Alice Howland has a career not unlike Genova's she's an esteemed psychology professor at Harvard, living a comfortable life in Cambridge with her husband, John, arguing about the usual (making quality time together, their daughter's move to L.A.) when the first symptoms of Alzheimer's begin to emerge. First, Alice can't find her Blackberry, then she becomes hopelessly disoriented in her own town. Alice is shocked to be diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's (she had suspected a brain tumor or menopause), after which her life begins steadily to unravel. She loses track of rooms in her home, resigns from Harvard and eventually cannot recognize her own children. The brutal facts of Alzheimer's are heartbreaking, and it's impossible not to feel for Alice and her loved ones, but Genova's prose style is clumsy and her dialogue heavy-handed. This novel will appeal to those dealing with the disease and may prove helpful, but beyond the heartbreaking record of illness there's little here to remember.
Customer Reviews
Still Alice
I am so grateful that someone like Lisa has written a wonderful book on early onset Alzheimer. My own mother started her symptoms at age 39 and had a terrible time with family and friends. Not knowing about this disease in the 60's made it that much worse. I now volunteer for an Alzheimer's group. It is my way of giving back.
The book was well written. Thank you. 5 stars
An incredible journey into the mind...
Wow!!! I heard of the book through my father and read it in a day...what an amazing story!! One I will not soon forget!!
Still Alice
More than just a glimpse inside the life and mind of Alice who has early onset Alzheimer's disease, this is an up-close-and-personal account of living with one's decline, dealing with the unknown, and trying to maintain 'normal' for as long as possible. Beautifully written, terrifying at times, profoundly sad, impossible to let go once the last page has been read.