Bound: A Daughter, a Domme, and an End-Of-Life Story
Elizabeth Anne Wood
(Author)
21,000+ Reviews
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Description
Unflinchingly honest and darkly funny, this memoir will resonate withanyone facing the complicated reality of aging and illness in the
United States.
Elizabeth and her mother, Judy, have always had a complicated
relationship. Now they face a confounding illness, as well as a
labyrinthine healthcare system, at a complicated stage of life. Nothing
is as it first seems in this riveting account of an unconventional
mother-daughter journey--a journey that from the start poses questions
about love, life, family, aging, healthcare, sex, and death. In Bound, Elizabeth Anne Wood addresses these questions as she
chronicles the last eight months of her mother's life--a period she comes
to see, over the course of months, as a maternity leave in reverse: she
is carrying her mother as she dies. Throughout their journey, Wood uses
her notebook as a shield to keep unruly emotions at bay, often taking
comfort in her role as advocate and forgetting to "be the daughter," as
one doctor reminds her to do. Meanwhile, her mother's penchant for
denial and childlike tendency toward magical thinking lead to moments of
humor even as Wood battles the red tape of hospital bureaucracies, the
frustration of planning in the midst of an unpredictable illness, and
the unintentional inhumanity of a healthcare system that too often fails
to see the person behind the medical chart.
Product Details
Price
$16.95
$15.76
Publisher
She Writes Press
Publish Date
August 13, 2019
Pages
296
Dimensions
5.5 X 8.4 X 0.8 inches | 0.8 pounds
Language
English
Type
Paperback
EAN/UPC
9781631526305
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About the Author
Elizabeth Anne Wood is a SUNY Chancellors Award-winning professor of sociology at Nassau Community College in Garden City, NY. She is also Senior Strategist for Woodhull Freedom Foundation, the nation's only human rights organization working full time to protect sexual freedom as a fundamental human right. She earned her PhD at Brandeis University in 1999 and has written critically about sexuality and society ever since. Born on an Army base in Kentucky, Wood grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and now divides her time between Queens, New York and Jamaica Plain, Boston. She is a devoted fan of Amtrak and an avowed cat person.
Reviews
2020 National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist in Caregiving 2020 National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist in Death & Dying 2020 International Book Awards Finalist in Heath: Cancer 2020 International Book Awards Finalist in Health: Death & Dying 2020 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Honorable Mention in Non-Fiction: Grief/Hardship "Sex, death, and family are some of the hardest topics for any writer to take on. Elizabeth Wood gracefully and fearlessly explores all three in this moving memoir." --Lux Alptraum, author of Faking it: Lies Women Tell About Sex--And the Truths They Reveal "In this fascinating exploration of a complex mother-daughter relationship, Elizabeth Wood comes to terms with her mother's flaws and eccentricities in order to make peace with her impending death. Wood also shines a necessary spotlight on the myriad bureaucracies within our health care system that make navigating illness challenging and often dehumanizing. A smartly written, thought-provoking read." --Heather Frimmer, MD, author of Bedside Manners "Elizabeth Wood puts a human face on our health care crisis. She offers a loving testimony to her mother--who lived life exuberantly as an elder dominatrix--and an indictment of the way our health care system treats those least able to advocate for themselves." --Joan Price, author of Naked at Our Age: Talking Out Loud about Senior Sex and the forthcoming Sex After Grief: Navigating Your Sexuality After Loss of Your Beloved "Bound is a deeply honest, unflinching portrait of a daughter's relationship with her mother at the end of life. In this affecting memoir, the intimacies of an aging woman's lifestyle of kink and bondage become fascinating metaphors for hospital life, medical care, and physical dependence during illness and dying. Bound is both a brilliant meditation on helplessness and power and a stirring testament to the strength of bonds between people who care for each other." --Victoria Pitts-Taylor, PhD, author of The Brain's Body: Neuroscience and Corporeal Politics "Told with courage, honesty, humor, warmth, and insight, Bound offers readers a front-row seat to the negotiations between a daughter, her unconventional mother, and other family as they face the medical-emotional whiplash of terminal illness. Wood offers wisdom and perspective that is sure to help others as they straddle the painful space between what they want and the inevitability of loss. This book is filled with love and promises to be a wonderful companion for anyone faced with caregiving for a loved one." --Virginia A. Simpson, PhD, FT, award-winning author of The Space Between: A Memoir of Mother-Daughter Love at the End of Life "Bound explores the complexities of caregiving in the context of a unique mother-daughter relationship. This personal story triggers universal emotions and offers insights that will help you understand your own caregiving journey." --Iris Waichler, MSW, LCSW, author of Role Reversal: How to Take Care of Yourself and Your Aging Parents ". . . a frank and refreshing exploration of the continued importance of sex and pleasure, even when facing a life-threatening illness . . . a rewarding read." --Dallas Voice
