The Two Kinds of Decay

by Sarah Manguso

Book Overview

"Manguso has produced a remarkable, clear-eyed account that turns horror into something humane and beautiful."--The New York Times Book Review

A book of tremendous grace and self-awareness, Sarah Manguso's The Two Kinds of Decay transcends the very notion of what an illness story can and should be.

The events that began in 1995 might keep happening to me as long as things can happen to me. Think of deep...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312428448
• ISBN13: 9780312428440
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Picador USA
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

The best account I have yet to read..

First things first, I have a bone to pick with a previous reviewer. "Self indulgent?" "Sarcasm a real turn-off?" "Fighting the wrong fight?" Doesn't it seem rather bold to judge the reactions of another to anything as horrible as a crippling painful chronic disease? Isn't it impossible to judge the anger of another who has had a major portion of their developmental years lost forever? Sarcasm, gallows humor, whatever you call it, is a healthy coping mechanism and an honored literary tradition. Anyone who has spent time among law officers, soldiers, health care professionals or social workers knows that such humor is an invaluable tool for staying sane and sober in horrific situations. I am doubly qualified to write this review. Having worked as a registered nurse and a nurse practitioner for twenty years, I am recovering from Guillain-Barre Syndrome (AIDP), and will hopefully not join the few patients who progress to CIDP. Only time will tell. Having spent months of recovery with lots of time to read (once I could hold a book again), I read through textbooks, journal articles, teen fiction (yep), and numerous memoirs relating to AIDP and CIDP. A few paragraphs into Sarah Manguso's book I came to the pleasant realization that this wasn't yet another memoir, but was poetry. Poetry as in few words conveying the lucid observations of a keen mind trapped in a failing body, the lonely and terrifying essence of it all. This is the best account of demyelinating disease I have yet to read. I would heartily recommend it to friends, family and health care providers to help better understand the first person reality of living with these conditions. I would also recommend it to fellow-travelers (fellow sufferers, if you must) as a valuable aid for self-reflection and self-recognition. Thank you Sarah Manguso. I cry, I mourn, and my spirit is uplifted by your work of beauty.

A painfully, poignantly, poetic, perfect prescription for pity-party participants

Sarah Manguso, afflicted at age twenty-one (in 1995) with a Guillain-Barre-like syndrome called CIDP, wrote The Two Kinds of Decay after seven years of remission from her illness. (p 2) "For seven years I tried not to remember much because there was too much to remember, and I didn't want to fall any further behind with the events in my life." Of the disease, the reader learns (p 19) "The condition may resolve spontaneously, relapse and remiss indefinitely, or progress and terminate in death." Talk about an uncertain future. In this succinct, simply-written story of a life, Ms. Manguso tells all: of her initial symptoms (numbness in her feet); treatment (and mis) including hours spent undergoing apheresis (p 10) "the process of separating blood into its components" and the painful procedure of having a permanent line surgically implanted in her chest (the apparatus shown on the cover); interactions with hospital staff, friends, family and complete strangers; the effects of the various treatments on her body; and just plain living with a rare, rotten, debilitating condition. Of a doctor, who tries to quantify her high level of suffering, she writes (p 83, 84) "he didn't understand yet that suffering, however much and whatever type, shrinks or swells to fit the size and shape of a life." Near the end of the book she shares (p 171) "Having spent my twenties expecting to die, I turned thirty and arrived in the afterlife with nothing left to do." She's done a lot since then, notably: running, writing, living and loving. She ends with a line explaining the title (I won't spoil it) and shares what she learned from years of agony, (p 183) "This is suffering's lesson: pay attention." The nine sentences that follow are equally excellent. Also good: Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox, Mountain Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder and There is No Me Without You by Melissa Fay Greene.

A Life Interrupted

An elegant little prose narrative of a rare fatal disease, told by the patient, a poet, who has been in remission for 7 years, and who seems to be a very bright young woman with a clear knack for writing, and for understanding. I bought this book entirely because my hero Garrison Kieller reported in a column that he was reading it. Then I found that the rare autoimmune disease described was almost the same as the one my wife suffered through 5 years ago - now 2 years in remission. The treatments have improved significantly in the short time between, and Sarah's were much more experimental. Written in almost poetic style, with short chapters and short sentences of well chosen word, spaced for effect, this worthwhile little book is a special sharing of the life of an extraordinary young woman, told with humor and candor at a time of sadness, fear, pain, love, and learning.

A Journey Through Hell with Humor

This book is a compelling read. It's a testimony to one woman's resiliance when the terrible thing happens to her, not to some stranger. Manguso has the courage to revisit her devastating illness, and the wisdom to find the ironies, the lessons, and even the humor in her experience. Through her sharing of the story of those terrifying sick years, she lets us see the indomitable spirit and the sense of humor that enabled her to survive them and heal. She juxtaposes pictures of illness against the lyrical beauty of her writing. I find new treasures whenever I reread it.

An Illness Once Removed

Ms. Manguso has written a medically graphic but affecting account of her battle with an auto-immune disease. Written in brief paragraphs with short chapters, the author is clealy recalling a bad dream that she rather not recall. A poet, her writing is lyrical and conversational. Once the reader starts her story, you will not put it down and it is easily read in one sitting. But it is a book that you will come back to.