Helpful Score: 4
Cancer is not usually a humorous topic. The Book of Dahlia by Elsa Albert, however, manages to bring levity to this weighty subject matter.
While some readers may be put off by Albert's sharp, gallows humor, it should be noted that the author lost her brother, David, to a brain tumor when he was twenty nine and she was nineteen. Hence, she knows the delicate terrain shes traversing.
Dahlia Finger is not a saintly, dying, heroine like Little Women's Beth. Rather Dahlia is profane slacker who has been informed that she has a terminal brain tumor. Dahlia copes with this devastating news: "the way stewardesses pantomime emergency protocol: bored, distracted, disconnected, a mask of seriousness and duty over a deep valley of uncertainty and - buried way, way, way down - fear."
Albert, who dedicates The Book of Dahlia to her late brother, states that she was trying to honor him with it. In my opinion, she has succeeded!
While some readers may be put off by Albert's sharp, gallows humor, it should be noted that the author lost her brother, David, to a brain tumor when he was twenty nine and she was nineteen. Hence, she knows the delicate terrain shes traversing.
Dahlia Finger is not a saintly, dying, heroine like Little Women's Beth. Rather Dahlia is profane slacker who has been informed that she has a terminal brain tumor. Dahlia copes with this devastating news: "the way stewardesses pantomime emergency protocol: bored, distracted, disconnected, a mask of seriousness and duty over a deep valley of uncertainty and - buried way, way, way down - fear."
Albert, who dedicates The Book of Dahlia to her late brother, states that she was trying to honor him with it. In my opinion, she has succeeded!
You know this is one of those books that was difficult to stop reading once you got into it, but I'm not sure why except you want to see how things progress. I didn't find any of the characters likable so I didn't have a vested interest in them, but it was an interesting character study/observation. I would say the book felt very real and while I would give it a thumbs up, and would probably recommend, I wouldn't say it was a MUST read.
