Saturday, December 31, 2011

Snippets From The Trenches

Snippets From The Trenches by Freda Wagman

About The Book:
The really extraordinary thing about this book is that it tells the story of how one mother embarked on her feverish course of involvement in the AIDS community, in large part to help herself come to terms with the possibility of her son's death. But all that work really doesn't prepare her. She becomes incredibly intimate with a series of strangers, yet she and her son have more and more trouble talking about HIS illness, which is the reason she is doing all this in the first place. She becomes indispensable at the bedsides of countless other people, but when Gary is dying, she still feels helpless, disconnected and as if she'd never set foot in an AIDS hospital room. What is moving about this book is the fact that all this preparation doesn't prepare, because NOTHING can prepare her." Susan Choi, Pulitzer Prize finalist, American Woman

My Thoughts:
This book will run through all the emotions. You will laugh, you will cry, you will get angry, you will find hope. You will find this one lady quite incredible. An incredible mother, and an incredible activist. I also learned some things in this book that I was not aware of (I was very young during the epidemic in the 80's). This book is not a book about homosexuals. This book is about a disease that effects many people from all walks of life. This book is about a mother and her son.

About The Author:
Born in Toledo, Ohio, the author, the eighth of nine children, moved to Detroit with her family at the age of three, and then, at 17, she moved alone to Houston, Texas. Her career as secretary to the Chairman of the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Houston, three years as a legal secretary, and many more years as Vice President of Administration for a store planning firm, gave her many opportunities to hone her writing skills. Other than a few award winning works of poetry as a child, her book, Snippets from the Trenches, a mother's AIDS memoir, is her only published work, for which she was awarded a silver medallion by ForeWord Magazine at Book of the Year Expo in Los Angeles, in May 2008. To learn more please visit the website.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

1 comment:

  1. Dear Hayley,
    Freda Wagman here. I will be the first to post, and look forward to the comments of others.
    Your opinion of the book is right on as far as the fact that the book is not about homosexuals; it is about a disease. It is also about the will of so many individuals and how they went through so much suffering; physically and emotionally, all while carrying a deep social stigma. Yet, in my experience with so very many people, I never heard a single one complain.
    I truly appreciate your kind words about me and my son. I couldn't help but become involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS because my son and his community deserved to be acknowledged.
    Thank you very much for reading my book and giving it such a heartfelt review. My heart goes out to you and your family for the loss of your precious baby.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! I LOVE comments! :)

Happy Good Friday

~Hayley