Review: Famous Is A Short Story That Will Take Your Breath Away.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 28, 2013
There are so many layers to this powerful, lyrical short story that it's hard to know where to start with this review. It reads like a prose poem: I get caught up in the story first, step back to appreciate the craft of it with a second and third reading. It's a story that embraces the relationship that daughters have with their fathers from the time they are little girls; a story that examines heroes and caretakers where readers discover that family members take turns being heroes and caretakers for each other.Barron writes with a discerning eye for lean detail. Alzheimers: what it is and what it does, as the narrator (the daughter) describes how she feels about it: "I've borne all the witness I can bear as this savage disease claws a gruesome path through this wonderful man. It has ripped him from his moorings, - from us, his family - and pushed him to a place where science can't save him and his children can't follow." This is such a gorgeous, yet agonizing sentence - It's a writer with a firm grip on her writer's voice and a sure understanding of her craft. Just stunning and highly recommended.