What astonishes us about this years best books is their audacity, their inventiveness, and their ability. Told in a diary format over the year that ruth spends at home, goodbye, vitamin is a quietly brilliant disquisition on family relationships and adulthood, told in prose that is so startling in its spare beauty that i found myself thinking about khongs turns of phrase for days after i finished reading. Rachel khongs first novel sneaks up on you just like life. Jul 11, 2017 goodbye, vitamin is a novel modeled on real life, where humor often rubs shoulders with pathos, and ruths gift as a narrator is her ability to observe and record it all. When ruth comes home to help care for her father, afflicted with alzheimers a beautiful family story unfolds. Rachel khongs debut novel goodbye, vitamin is a beautiful story about thirtyyear old ruths year spent caring for her father, a former history professor with alzheimers.
In any good story, a character must change, and this disease often appears to bring about a total overhaul of the person suffering from it, as they lose their memories, which add up to create a. Padgett powell, author of cries for help, various and edisto equal parts clever and tender, khongs goodbye, vitamin is a moving meditation on what it means to patient, forgiving, and human. Told in captivating glimpses and drawn from a deep well of insight, humor, and unexpected tenderness, goodbye, vitamin pilots through the loss, love, and absurdity of finding ones footing in this life. Reviews used words like quirky npr and darkly funny popsugar. Overall, there is little evidence tha t supplementation for a few years would reduce the risk of any type of cancer. Free delivery worldwide on over 20 million books we use cookies to give you the best possible experience. Jul 11, 2017 but as ruths fathers condition intensifies, the comedy in her situation takes hold, gently transforming her all her grief. Its ironic how a book told so simply could pack so much beauty and emotion into its words, but rachel khongs goodbye, vitamin did just that. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading goodbye, vitamin. I have read nonfictional accounts, fiction, and research. This study guide consists of approximately 39 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of goodbye, vitamin. Jul 11, 2017 former lucky peach executive editor khong all about eggs.
This is because the author, like her guiding spirit, lorrie moore, has a love for the ridiculous in the mundane. Goodbye, vitamin is a generous and funny novel about love, family, and finding your way. Goodbye, vitamin book johnson county library bibliocommons. Rachel khongs debut novel, goodbye, vitamin, is a story about subtraction. Part diary, part letter, part enthralling lecture, rachel khongs debut novel goodbye, vitamin invites us into a year of ruth youngs life as she searches for beauty, humor, and absurdity in unexpected situations.
Goodbye, vitamin is a nice addition to the literary work on an illness that will touch most of us in some way. Everything we know about the worlds most important. Rachel khong finds the humor in loss in her debut novel. Granted, khong, who also has written a nonfiction book and for several years was the managing editor of the magazine lucky peach, is not exactly a freshly minted mfa student. Click here for our current phone hours and other contact information. Everything we know about the worlds most important food, 2017 whisks up a heartfelt family dramedy in a debut novel that ruminates on love, loss, and memory. Jul 21, 2017 and then i picked up rachel khongs debut novel, goodbye, vitamin, which promptly changed my opinion. Goodbye, vitamin is the wry, beautifully observed story of a wo. The pants belong to howard young, a prominent history professor, recently diagnosed with alzheimers. Harvard book store 1256 massachusetts avenue cambridge, ma 028.
Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Ruth youngs life is falling apart, her fiance just left her for another woman, and her career is going absolutely nowhere. Jun 01, 2017 buy goodbye, vitamin second impression by khong, rachel isbn. Discover book depository s huge selection of free books books online. Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Karolina waclawiak, author of the invaders and how to get into the twin palms. This is a wikipedia book, a collection of wikipedia articles that can be easily saved, imported by an external electronic rendering service, and ordered as a printed book. Download the watch own app and access own anytime, anywhere. Goodbye, vitamin is the wry, beautifully observed story of a woman at a crossroads, as ruth and her friends attempt to shore up her fathers career. Goodbye, vitamin by rachel khong, 9781250109163, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. This book summarizes and evaluates the existing evidence on t he cancerpreventive activity of vitamin a. Just enter your email to add this book to your box.
The following is from rachel khongs novel, goodbye, vitamin. Rachel khongs first novel is a heartwarming account of family devotion and dementia which sounds sickly, but her offbeat sensibility and. Shed choose perfect socal cheap eats, put too much sake into her body, and give mordant voice to what ails her, from the stress of caring for her alzheimersstricken father to the humiliation of being dumped by her fiance. For businessexclusive pricing, quantity discounts and downloadable vat invoices. This is a somewhat quirky, slightly odd book that i found quite movingin fact, i had to do the no, im not crying, im just rubbing my eyes thing more than a few times on my plane ride this morning. Free shipping and pickup in store on eligible orders. Theres lots of imagination on show, the writing has a strong voice, and the witcher is an entertaining character mark lawrence like mieville and gaiman, sapkowski takes the old and makes it new. Buy goodbye, vitamin second impression by khong, rachel isbn.
San francisco chronicle goodbye vitamin is material for another grueling exploration of loss, and yet, against all odds, ms. Many of these books draw on the experience of having a family member with the condition, and goodbye, vitamin, rachel khongs nuanced debut novel, has its own autobiography in. Quick take as it dazzles and delights, as it compels you to fall in love with the people within its pages, it too shows you what is. Funny and welldrawn, this novel deals sensitively with a heavy topic, and im looking forward to hearing her speak at adelaide writers week next year.
Goodbye vitamin by rachel khong rachel khongs first novel is a heartwarming account of family devotion and dementia which sounds sickly, but her offbeat sensibility and flair. Rachel khong was the managing editor then executive editor of lucky peach magazine. Goodbye vitamin is material for another grueling exploration of loss, and yet, against all odds, ms. She has a few years of professional and life experience under her. Ruth, the rudderless 30yearold of this foodobsessed diaristic novel, would make an excellent dinner companion. This is a somewhat quirky, slightly odd book that i found quite movingin fact, i had to do the no, im not crying, im just rubbing my eyes thing more than a few times on my plane ride. Former lucky peach executive editor khong all about eggs. Lucky peach executive editor khongs first novel, written in journal format, is a family drama cum breakup story about 30yearold ruth.
Straight up loved rachel khongs novel goodbye, vitamin. And then i picked up rachel khongs debut novel, goodbye, vitamin, which promptly changed my opinion. The following version of this book was used to create this study guide. The mechanics and metaphysics of recollection are also an obsessive preoccupation for ruth, the narrator of khongs wonderful first novel, goodbye, vitamin. Immediately download the goodbye, vitamin summary, chapterbychapter analysis, book notes, essays, quotes, character descriptions, lesson plans, and more everything you need for studying or teaching goodbye, vitamin. For personal and professional reasons, i have an interest in dementia.
Goodbye, vitamin by rachel khong book of the month. Goodbye, vitamin npr coverage of goodbye, vitamin by rachel khong. Goodbye, vitamin is a novel modeled on real life, where humor often rubs shoulders with pathos, and ruths gift as a narrator is her ability to observe and record it all. You know it is the kind of book you will come back to, if you, like i did, highlight all the hilarious bits. For help with downloading a wikipedia page as a pdf, see help. Jul 20, 2017 the following is from rachel khongs novel, goodbye, vitamin. A darkly comic novel about turning 30 without growing up. Jul 28, 2017 goodbye, vitamin by rachel khong 196 pp. She writes that she arrived at her parents home on christmas eve to help take care of her father, howard, who has alzheimers disease. Miranda july a few days after christmas in a small suburb outside of l. Jul 10, 2017 the mechanics and metaphysics of recollection are also an obsessive preoccupation for ruth, the narrator of khongs wonderful first novel, goodbye, vitamin. Silicon valley reads is an annual community program that selects books focused on a contemporary theme and offers free events throughout santa clara county to engage the public in reading, thinking and discussing the topic. Book depository is the worlds most international online bookstore offering over 20 million books with free delivery worldwide.
Khong has produced a book thats whimsical and funny. It was a book of the month pick, and o, the oprah magazine, entertainment weekly, and booklist all named it a best book of the year. Rachel khong finds the humor in loss in her debut novel goodbye, vitamin. But as ruths fathers condition intensifies, the comedy in her situation takes hold, gently transforming her all her grief. After her fathers alzheimers disease progresses, 30year old ruth pulls up stakes and moves home temporarily to help care for him. And yet in her first novel, goodbye, vitamin, san francisco author rachel khong has managed to create an alzheimers novel that is heartbreaking but also funny, offering a fresh take on. Harvard book store is temporarily closed to the public through sunday, may 3rd. Everything we know about the worlds most important food, 2017 whisks up a heartfelt family dramedy in a debut novel that ruminates on love, loss, and memory last june, ruth young was engaged and packing to move to a spacious apartment in bernal heights, san francisco, when her fiance, joel, broke. Jun 01, 2017 goodbye, vitamin by rachel khong is a touching gem of a novel about family, friendship, and alzheimers disease with an added touch of laughter, sadness, and love. Combining the pithy observation of jenny offills dept. A novel by rachel khong what imperfect carriers of love we are, and what imperfect givers. Goodbye, vitamin by rachel khong, 9781471159480, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. The widespread use of nonconventional treatments, or complementary and alternative medicine cam, and the increasing evidence supporting their therapeutic benefits call for a concerted scientific effort to integrate modalities with demonstrated efficacy into mainstream medicine. Told in captivating glimpses and drawn from a deep well of insight, humor, and unexpected tenderness, goodbye, vitamin pilots through the loss, love, and.