Honest, moving, and an invaluable source of hope for those facing all manner of adversities.
In this uplifting debut memoir, a Los Angeles businessman recalls his life before and after a triple organ transplant.
Stavis was no stranger to health problems, having been diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, but after suffering a heart attack at 42 in the San Bernadino Mountains, his life transformed. After receiving CPR for 20-plus minutes and being whisked off to a nearby mountaintop clinic, Jim learned that one of his coronary arteries was 95 percent blocked. He also discovered that he had developed further complications due to his ongoing battle with diabetes. His reaction: “How lucky was I?” This remarkably upbeat attitude percolates through the entire memoir, which details a medical odyssey that included congestive heart failure, end-stage renal failure, dialysis, a heart and kidney transplant followed by a pancreas transplant, and the amputation of part of his foot. The author also battled a painkiller dependency and the loss of friend and business partner Doug Carpenter. Stavis was sanguine through all of it, but the hope he gives to others is even more remarkable. The memoir is, in part, a manifesto on how to face adversity. Stavis’ writing crackles with positivity: “Enduring requires perseverance, strength, courage, and determination to pass through this stage. Enduring also takes time. You never know how long you will have to tolerate your situation, so it’s wise to stop fixating on questions like, ‘When will this be over?!?!’ Instead, focus on moving through.” There are some unconventional moments, like when the author unexpectedly offers his email address at the end of Chapter 3. Like his role model, “Dirty” Harry Callahan, Jim rarely plays by the rules, and this strategy, along with the support of a devoted family and dedicated team of medical professionals, has made him a survivor.
Honest, moving, and an invaluable source of hope for those facing all manner of adversities.Pub Date: April 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4575-6349-2
Page Count: 151
Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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