After reading an excerpt of Imperfect Endings in O magazine I had no intention of reading Zoe Fitzgerald Carter’s memoir. Don’t get me wrong, the piece was beautifully written, moving even, but the subject matter turned me off. It portrays her mother’s difficult decision to end her life. Too grim, I thought.
Then I heard F-C speak at Litquake and I was slightly more interested. She looked really cool in a funky tunic and leggings tucked into boots and she presented well. Afterwards I spoke to her briefly about an article she posted on her blog. She was responsive, warm and funny, but I still didn’t buy her book.
This past Saturday I took my music-crazed son to one of the last music stores in Palo Alto, which also happens to be a book store. Sitting on the shelf in front of me and on sale for nine bucks was F-C’s book. Not only that, they would take an additional 20% off if I bought it that day. For $6.75 it was meant to be.
I’m halfway through Imperfect Endings and I’m blown away by F-C’s style (my barometer is reading to the end rather than making dinner for the family). She is honest about her emotions, captures sibling exchanges beautifully (I’m not sure I’d ever dare write about my own sisters so candidly) and she is funny. She portrays her mother as self-centered and vulnerable, yet she seeks her approval and loves her enormously. How many of us feel this way about our own parents? There is tension in the book because her Mom keeps changing the date on which she plans to end her life, but we know it is a foregone conclusion.
The only thing that niggled a bit was that F-C used pseudonyms for her sisters, yet in a later post on her blog she provides the real name of one them. I guess if I were super-curious I could find out who her sisters are, but I’m not. Still, it felt unnecessary.
Check it out. It is worth the read, especially if you are facing a similar situation in your own family. I may even go and hear her speak again at Studio 333 on November 11th. It will make a good excuse to go to Sausalito!