Take part in the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read by enjoying 2024's selection, Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast.
"If you can pass the job on to someone else, I'd recommend it. If not, you have my total sympathy."
—from Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?
Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?
by Roz Chast
Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, written by Roz Chast, a longtime cartoonist for the New Yorker, is a “tour de force” (Elle), “remarkable” (San Francisco Chronicle), "revelatory" (Kirkus), "deeply poignant and laugh-out-loud funny" (New York Times), and “one of the great autobiographical memoirs of our time" (Buffalo News). A finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the Kirkus Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Books for a Better Life Award, the memoir tells the story of Chast’s parents’ final years through cartoons, family photos, found documents, and narrative prose. "So many have faced (or will face) the situation that the author details, but no one could render it like she does" (Kirkus). “Anyone who has had Chast’s experience will devour this book and cling to it for truth, humor, understanding, and the futile wish that it could all be different" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch). "I want to recommend it to everyone I know who has elderly parents, or might have them someday" (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).
Big Read Events
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About Alice
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Elegy for Iris
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Losing Mum and Pup: A Memoir
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Things to Say to a Dead Man: Poems at the End of a Marriage and After
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Activities of Daily Living
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Alive, Alive Oh!: And Other Things That Matter
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Always the Last to Know
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Blue Nights
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Dancing at the Pity Party: A Dead Mom Graphic Memoir
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Ghost Forest
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Island Girl
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Living During the Coronavirus Pandemic: Poems, Artwork and Reflections by Children and Adults
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Midnight Chicken: (& Other Recipes Worth Living For)
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Obit: Poems
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One True Thing
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Somewhere Towards the End
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The Half-life of Everything
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The Swimmers
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Unlikely Animals
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What We Lose
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When Breath Becomes Air
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Who Cares: The Hidden Crisis of Caregiving, and How We Solve It
Related Titles: Teens
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6 Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did)
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A Lite Too Bright
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A Loved One With Dementia: Insights and Tips for Teenagers
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All That It Ever Meant
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An Appetite for Miracles
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Being Toffee
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Curveball: The Year I Lost my Grip
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Dealing With Death: The Ultimate Teen Guide
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Dementia
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Don't Forget Me
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Grief Recovery for Teens: Letting Go of Painful Emotions With Body-based Practices
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Growth and Aging
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How Not to Disappear
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Just Lucky
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Kill Switch
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Not if I See You First
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Saturdays With Hitchcock
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Stolen Secrets
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Switching Gears
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The Aging Population
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The Evolving Truth of Ever-stronger Will
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The Last True Love Story
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The Tragedy of Dane Riley
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The Truth About Illness and Disease
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Things Too Huge to Fix by Saying Sorry
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This Last Adventure
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Tunnels
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Unbecoming
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Related Titles: Kids
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A Stone for Sascha
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Before the Ever After
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Better Place
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Clean Getaway
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Cry, Heart, But Never Break
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Ice Cream With Grandpa: A Loving Story for Kids About Alzheimer's & Dementia, Guide for Parents
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My Singing Nana
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Newspaper Hats
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Remind Me
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Roll With It
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The Dead Bird
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The Lotterys Plus One
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The Remember Balloons
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What a Beautiful Morning
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Where Do They Go?
