Memory's Last Breath Audiobook By Gerda Saunders cover art

Memory's Last Breath

Field Notes on My Dementia

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Memory's Last Breath

By: Gerda Saunders
Narrated by: Edita Brychta, Gerda Saunders - author's note
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A "courageous and singular book" (Andrew Solomon), Memory's Last Breath is an unsparing, beautifully written memoir - "an intimate, revealing account of living with dementia" (Shelf Awareness).

Based on the "field notes" she keeps in her journal, Memory's Last Breath is Gerda Saunders' astonishing window into a life distorted by dementia. She writes about shopping trips cut short by unintentional shoplifting, car journeys derailed when she loses her bearings, and the embarrassment of forgetting what she has just said to a room of colleagues. Coping with the complications of losing short-term memory, Saunders, a former university professor, nonetheless embarks on a personal investigation of the brain and its mysteries, examining science and literature, and immersing herself in vivid memories of her childhood in South Africa.

©2017 Gerda Saunders (P)2017 Hachette Audio Aging Parents Parenting & Families Physical Illness & Disease Relationships

Critic reviews

"Saunders...writes bravely about her early-onset dementia diagnosis, and nicely bridges the intensely personal experience of her failing mind with examinations of neurological science.... Her evocative writing shows her to be a researcher and craftswoman." ( Publishers Weekly)
"The book is remarkable not only for its fiercely honest, sometimes-poetic portrayal of mental decline, but also for the way the author effectively celebrates 'the magisteria of a mind'.... A courageous, richly textured, and unsparing memoir." ( Kirkus Reviews)

"For anyone facing dementia, [Saunders'] words are truly enlightening...Inspiring lessons about living and thriving with dementia." (Maria Shriver, NBC's Today Show)
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heart-wrenching. this is why suicide should be legal and assisted. I liked that she made every minute count.

💔💔💔

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She lived a life where she found truth within herself. Suicide was an interesting solution.

Heart wrenching and true

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