The Bright Hour : : a Memoir of Living and Dying

Locations
Call Number: 362.196 Ri, Adult Book / Nonfiction / Self-Help / Death & Grief / Riggs, Nina
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Malletts Creek Branch, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	362.196 Ri	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	362.196 Ri	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	362.196 Ri	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Self-Help / Death & Grief / Riggs, Nina	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Self-Help / Death & Grief / Riggs, Nina	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Self-Help / Death & Grief / Riggs, Nina	4-week checkout	Due 05-12-2024
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Self-Help / Death & Grief / Riggs, Nina	4-week checkout	Due 05-09-2024

"Built on her wildly popular Modern Love column, 'When a Couch is More Than a Couch' (9/23/2016), a breathtaking memoir of living meaningfully with 'death in the room' by the 38 year old great-great-great granddaughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson, mother to two young boys, wife of 16 years, after her terminal cancer diagnosis"-- Provided by publisher.
"An exquisite memoir about how to live--and love--every day with 'death in the room, ' from poet Nina Riggs, mother of two young sons and the direct descendant of Ralph Waldo Emerson, in the tradition of When Breath Becomes Air. 'We are breathless, but we love the days. They are promises. They are the only way to walk from one night to the other.' Nina Riggs was just thirty-seven years old when initially diagnosed with breast cancer--one small spot. Within a year, the mother of two sons, ages seven and nine, and married sixteen years to her best friend, received the devastating news that her cancer was terminal. How does one live each day, 'unattached to outcome'? How does one approach the moments, big and small, with both love and honesty? Exploring motherhood, marriage, friendship, and memory, even as she wrestles with the legacy of her great-great-great grandfather, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nina Riggs's breathtaking memoir continues the urgent conversation that Paul Kalanithi began in his gorgeous When Breath Becomes Air. She asks, what makes a meaningful life when one has limited time? Brilliantly written, disarmingly funny, and deeply moving, The Bright Hour is about how to love all the days, even the bad ones, and it's about the way literature, especially Emerson, and Nina's other muse, Montaigne, can be a balm and a form of prayer. It's a book about looking death squarely in the face and saying 'this is what will be.' Especially poignant in these uncertain times, The Bright Hour urges us to live well and not lose sight of what makes us human: love, art, music, words"-- Provided by publisher.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Beautiful and heart breaking submitted by jhaberich on July 17, 2018, 8:53am This was really well written but not easy to read - given the subject matter. I had listened to the Modern Love column podcast, which featured the essay that Riggs had written, which is what prompted me to read her book. It was well worth reading.

Excellent! 6 stars!!! submitted by 21621031390949 on July 20, 2018, 2:18pm Oh my God. If I could give this book 6 stars I would. I recognize that it's not everyone's cup of tea -- a memoir about dying of cancer -- but this book is so exquisitely written and so real, I would recommend it most highly to anyone ready to read it.

The book begins with the author's diagnosis and follows her through a year+ of treatments. The focus is on the author, her husband, and young children, as they attempt to come to terms with her looming death. Sound dreary? Au contraire, this is a bright, sometimes humorous, beautiful account of living.

What a beautiful gift this woman has left for her husband, children and loved ones. My heart goes out to her family, and I am so sorry this talented writer will not live to write more.

so lovely and sad submitted by laurenalysse on August 17, 2018, 11:09am i loved this book. I think I will find myself going back and re-reading it at some point. It made me laugh and cry and it was *such* a delight.