Alice LaPlante: "Turn of Mind"
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-08-03/alice-laplante-turn-mind
Anne Knudsen
Alice LaPlante’s new novel, “Turn of Mind,” is a murder mystery with a twist. Its narrator, Dr. Jennifer White may have killed her best friend, but she doesn’t remember. Jennifer suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and the answer is hidden somewhere in her rapidly deteriorating mind. At one point Jennifer reveals, “I believe I could kill. There is that in me.” The author’s own mother suffers from Alzheimer’s. She infuses her experiences with the disease into Jennifer’s character. Readers are left with an intimate and revealing look into the mind of someone with dementia.
Guests
Alice LaPlante
teaches creative writing at Stanford University and San Francisco State University. Author of five previous non-fiction books, including a guide to writing, “Method and Madness: The Making of a Story.” Her debut novel is “Turn of Mind.”
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Read an Excerpt
Excerpt from "Turn of Mind" by Alice LaPlante. Copyright 2011 by Alice LaPlante. Excerpted here by kind permission of Atlantic Monthly Press:<
Comments
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Did she just say, "black joke"? Changing the station.
In 8th grade, reading The Tell Tale Heart, I was introduced to the fascinating concept of not inherently trusting a story's narrator. So often we are used to taking a narrator's voice as completely accurate if necessarily objective.
Breaking that convention opens up a complex interaction between the reader and the text, that most books don't approach.
I'm also put in mind of The Sound and the Fury, which for one section forces the reader to see the world through the persona of someone with a completely different mental capacity.
I understand that the money spent on finding a cure for Altzhimer's Disease is criminally low compared to such diseases as breast cancer. Why?
The Alzheimer's Association is helping match volunteers to research projects. I did this, and found it very rewarding. They swabbed my cheek for DNA, gave me some cognitive tests, and will test me again in a few years. Research requires testing subjects, healthy or already impaired. It's a small thing we can do to fight this terrible disease. Alz.org
I have also found the website very helpful in figuring out how to help a family member. Signs and symptoms and stages are well-defined.
Zoe,
Thanks for your post. My wife and I donate significantly every year to Alzheimer's Association. My mother was stricken with the disease and I think they do a good work. Your suggestion is a good way to help outside of just the dollars. I will look into it. Thanks again.