Death of an Ordinary Man
As Kafka once wrote, 'a book should serve as an ax for the frozen sea within us.' This book, and this author, are that ax ... Much is laid before us, with great precision: finely tuned metaphors, graceful repetitions. Facts are faced, faults are noted, death and life are seen and held. That is all — and that is truly plenty, this valuable and beautiful account a gift to the reader, grieving or not.
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An endearing and achingly real portrait ... Attends to the logistics of end-of-life care while addressing the singularity of human life, community and death ... Deeply tender and generous ... Ms. Perry has extended a companionable hand to the reader, with profound sincerity and grace.
It’s not easy to account for what makes this book so special ... Partly, this book works its magic through the adamantine detail and quiet lyricism with which it recounts a particular, unrepeatable life ... Mostly, though, what makes this book gem-like is that it succeeds in conveying the reality of death as this monumental, mythic thing that coexists surreally with the mundane world ... She has written beautifully and compellingly about the life of an unexceptional man, and an experience that is coming to all of us.
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