Synopses & Reviews
Stubborn Twig is a classic American story, a story of immigrants making their way in a new land. It is a living work of social history that rings with the power of truth and the drama of fiction, a moving saga about the challenges of becoming an American. Masuo Yasui traveled from Japan across the other Oregon Trail, the one that spanned the Pacific Ocean in 1903. Like most immigrants, he came with big dreams and empty pockets. Working on the railroads, in a cannery, and as a houseboy before settling in Hood River, Oregon, he opened a store, raised a large family, and became one of the areas most successful orchardists. As Masuo broke the race barrier in the local business community, his American-born children broke it in school, scouts and sports, excelling in most everything they tried. For the Yasu is a first-born son, the constraints and contradictions of being both Japanese and American led to tragedy. But his seven brothers and sisters prevailed, becoming doctors, lawyers, teachers, and farmers. It was a classic tale of the American dream come true until December 7, 1941, changed their lives forever. The Yasu is were among the more than 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry along the West Coast who were forced from their homes and interned in vast inland are location camps. Masuo was arrested as a spy and imprisoned for the rest of the war; his family was shamed and broken. Yet the Yasu is endured, as succeeding generations took up the challenge of finding their identity as Americans. Stubborn Twig is their story, a story at once tragic and triumphant, one that bears eloquent witness to both the promise and the peril of America.
Synopsis
Previously published in HC as Dancing With Rose
One journalist?s riveting?and surprisingly hopeful? in-the-trenches view of Alzheimer?s
Nearly five million people in the United States are living with Alzheimer?s. Like many children of Alzheimer?s sufferers, Lauren Kessler, an accomplished journalist, was devastated by the disease that seemed to erase her mother?s identity even before claiming her life. But suppose people with Alzheimer?s are not slates wiped blank. Suppose they experience friendship and loss, romance and jealousy, joy and sorrow? To better understand this debilitating condition, Kessler enlists as a bottom-of-the-rung caregiver at an Alzheimer?s facility and learns lessons that challenge what we think we know about the disease. A compelling, clear-eyed, and emotionally resonant narrative, Finding Life in the Land of Alzheimer?s offers a new optimistic look at what the disease can teach us and a much-needed tonic for those faced with providing care for someone they love.
Synopsis
Previously published in HC as Dancing With Rose
One journalist?s riveting?and surprisingly hopeful? in-the-trenches view of Alzheimer?s
Nearly five million people in the United States are living with Alzheimer?s. Like many children of Alzheimer?s sufferers, Lauren Kessler, an accomplished journalist, was devastated by the disease that seemed to erase her mother?s identity even before claiming her life. But suppose people with Alzheimer?s are not slates wiped blank. Suppose they experience friendship and loss, romance and jealousy, joy and sorrow? To better understand this debilitating condition, Kessler enlists as a bottom-of-the-rung caregiver at an Alzheimer?s facility and learns lessons that challenge what we think we know about the disease. A compelling, clear-eyed, and emotionally resonant narrative, Finding Life in the Land of Alzheimer?s offers a new optimistic look at what the disease can teach us and a much-needed tonic for those faced with providing care for someone they love.
About the Author
Lauren Kessler is the author of five works of narrative nonfiction, including the Washington Post bestseller Clever Girl and the Los Angeles Times bestseller The Happy Bottom Riding Club. Her journalism has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Los Angeles Times Magazine, O magazine, and The Nation. She directs the graduate program in literary nonfiction at the University of Oregon and lives in Eugene, Oregon.
Exclusive Essay
Read Lauren Kessler's exclusive essay, "The Art of the Guinea Pig"