Still Alice

By Lisa Genova
(Gallery Books, Paperback, 9781439102817, 320pp.)

Publication Date: January 6, 2009

Other Editions of This Title: Compact Disc, Hardcover, Mass Market Paperback, Compact Disc, Hardcover, Paperback

Categories: Literary

Selected by Indie Booksellers for the January 2009 Indie Next List

“This wonderful debut novel tells the story of 50-year-old Harvard professor Alice Howland as she grapples with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Lisa Genova's writing style, and her compelling story, will leave you thinking of, and wanting to talk about, Alice after finishing this powerful, beautiful work.”

-- Caitlin Doggart, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Chatham, MA

Selected by Indie Booksellers for the Fall '09/Winter '10 Reading Group List

“Still Alice tells the story of a 50-year-old Harvard psychology and linguistics professor in the year following diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer's disease. Her struggles with the effect on her work life, and her family's attempts to cope, are compelling and entirely believable. Genova's doctorate in neuroscience lets information flow naturally as part of a tender story, perfect for book groups.”

-- Carla Jimenez, Inkwood Books, Tampa, FL

Description

Still Alice is a compelling debut novel about a 50-year-old woman's sudden descent into early onset Alzheimer's disease, written by first-time author Lisa Genova, who holds a Ph. D in neuroscience from Harvard University.

Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children and a house on the Cape, is a celebrated Harvard professor at the height of her career when she notices a forgetfulness creeping into her life. As confusion starts to cloud her thinking and her memory begins to fail her, she receives a devastating diagnosis: early onset Alzheimer's disease. Fiercely independent, Alice struggles to maintain her lifestyle and live in the moment, even as her sense of self is being stripped away. In turns heartbreaking, inspiring and terrifying, Still Alice captures in remarkable detail what's it's like to literally lose your mind...

Reminiscent of A Beautiful Mind, Ordinary People and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Still Alice packs a powerful emotional punch and marks the arrival of a strong new voice in fiction.

About the Author

Lisa Genova is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Love Anthony, Left Neglected, and Still Alice. Love Anthony, her latest, is the moving story of the mother of a boy with autism. She graduated valedictorian from Bates College with a degree in Biopsychology and holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Harvard University. She travels worldwide, speaking about the causes, treatments, ways to prevent, and what it feels like to live with Alzheimer’s Disease. She has appeared on The Dr. Oz Show, The Diane Rehm Show, CNN, Chronicle, Fox News, and Canada AM and is featured in the documentary film, To Not Fade Away. She lives with her husband and three children in Cape Cod.

Conversation Starters from ReadingGroupChoices.com

1. When Alice becomes disoriented in Harvard Square, a place she's visited daily for twenty-five years, why doesn't she tell John? Is she too afraid to face a possible illness, worried about his possible reaction, or some other reason?

Praise For Still Alice…

"After I read Still Alice, I wanted to stand up and tell a train full of strangers, 'You have to get this book.'" -- Beverly Beckham, The Boston Globe

"This book is as important as it is impressive, and will grace the lives of those affected by this dread disease for generations to come." -- Phil Bolsta, author of Sixty Seconds

"With a master storyteller's easy eloquence, Lisa Genova shines a searing spotlight on this Alice's surreal wonderland. You owe it to yourself and your loved ones to read this book. It will inform you. It will scare you. It will change you." -- Julia Fox Garrison, author of Don't Leave Me This Way

"A work of pure genius." -- Charley Schneider, author of Don't Bury Me, It Ain't Over Yet

"A masterpiece that will touch lives in ways none of us can even imagine. This book is the best portrayal of the Alzheimer's journey that I have read." -- Mark Warner, Alzheimer's Daily News

"With grace and compassion, Lisa Genova writes about the enormous white emptiness created by Alzheimer's." -- The Improper Bostonian

"Heartbreaking." -- The Cape Cod Chronicle

"Heartbreakingly real.... So real, in fact, that it kept me from sleeping for several nights. I couldn't put it down....Still Alice is a story that must be told." -- Brunonia Barry, New York Times bestselling author of The Lace Reader

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