Her Beautiful Brain: A Memoir
Ann Hedreen
(Author)
21,000+ Reviews
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Description
Arlene was a twice-divorced, once-widowed copper miner's daughter who raised six kids singlehandedly and went back to college at forty so she could support her family. In her late fifties, she started showing signs of Alzheimer's disease-and in the two decades that followed, her children were forced to stand helplessly by as their mother's once-beautiful brain was slowly choked by plaques and tangles. In this poignant memoir, Ann Hedreen gives shattering insight into what it is to watch your mother-a woman you once thought of as invincible-begin to disappear. From Seattle to Haiti to the mine-gouged Finntown neighborhood in Butte, Montana where Arlene was born and raised, Her Beautiful Brain tells the heartbreaking story of a daughter's love for a mother lost in the wilderness of an unpredictable and harrowing illness.
Product Details
Price
$16.95
$15.76
Publisher
She Writes Press
Publish Date
September 16, 2014
Pages
196
Dimensions
5.52 X 8.46 X 0.26 inches | 0.52 pounds
Language
English
Type
Paperback
EAN/UPC
9781938314926
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About the Author
Ann Hedreen is a writer, teacher, filmmaker and voice of the radio podcast and blog, The Restless Nest. Together, she and her husband Rustin Thompson have made more than 100 films, including five full-length documentaries. Her writing has also appeared in Seattle Metropolitan Magazine, Courageous Creativity, the Seattle Times and other publications. She lives in Seattle.
Reviews
"As a daughter who nursed her own mother through the ravages of Alzheimer's, I was deeply moved by Ann Hedreen's heartfelt tribute to her mother's courage and suffering, and her searingly honest reflections on the confusion wrought by this disease."
-Ruth Ozeki, author of A Tale for the Time Being "A moving elegy to a loved one and to the power of love."
-Ron Reagan, author of My Father at 100 "An exceptionally beautiful book about a mother who lives and dies with Alzheimer's. Through exquisite writing, Her Beautiful Brain describes not only a mother and a daughter, but a world."
-Michael Klein, author of The End of Being Known
"In lucid prose, Ann Hedreen scavenges her family's history, looking for clues about her mother and herself. Her writing is deeply loving, sharply unsentimental, and a joy to read."
-Claire Dederer, author of Poser: My Life in 23 Yoga Poses
"In Her Beautiful Brain, Ann Hedreen writes movingly of a vibrant, engaged, life-affirming, highly intelligent woman who overcame many obstacles in life only to succumb to early-onset Alzheimer's. A beautifully written, evocative memoir."
-Victoria Nelson, author of Gothicka "Ann Hedreen has done an elegant job of capturing the past, present, and future of a complicated journey. If you are in the midst of caregiving for a loved one with dementia, you'll find comfort in Hedreen's reflections on her mother's Alzheimer's and her family's response to it."
-Keri K. Pollock, Alzheimer's Association "Her Beautiful Brain is a daring and ambitious memoir that bestows unexpected rewards on the reader."
-David Takami, Seattle Times
-Ruth Ozeki, author of A Tale for the Time Being "A moving elegy to a loved one and to the power of love."
-Ron Reagan, author of My Father at 100 "An exceptionally beautiful book about a mother who lives and dies with Alzheimer's. Through exquisite writing, Her Beautiful Brain describes not only a mother and a daughter, but a world."
-Michael Klein, author of The End of Being Known
"In lucid prose, Ann Hedreen scavenges her family's history, looking for clues about her mother and herself. Her writing is deeply loving, sharply unsentimental, and a joy to read."
-Claire Dederer, author of Poser: My Life in 23 Yoga Poses
"In Her Beautiful Brain, Ann Hedreen writes movingly of a vibrant, engaged, life-affirming, highly intelligent woman who overcame many obstacles in life only to succumb to early-onset Alzheimer's. A beautifully written, evocative memoir."
-Victoria Nelson, author of Gothicka "Ann Hedreen has done an elegant job of capturing the past, present, and future of a complicated journey. If you are in the midst of caregiving for a loved one with dementia, you'll find comfort in Hedreen's reflections on her mother's Alzheimer's and her family's response to it."
-Keri K. Pollock, Alzheimer's Association "Her Beautiful Brain is a daring and ambitious memoir that bestows unexpected rewards on the reader."
-David Takami, Seattle Times
