FFB: A LOSS FOR WORDS, Lou Ann Walker

 

I was working on a piece for my writing group and looking through photos and saw a boy in my confirmation class who was deaf. I googled him and found out despite his deficit, he had an amazing career, beginning with taking the University of Texas to the Supreme Court for refusing to provide him with language assistance. And then I remembered a book I read years ago (1988) that really captured the hearing person in a deaf family (A LOSS FOR WORDS). Now that I have a moderate hearing loss, this subject interests me. The recent series CODE OF SILENCE on Britbox did a great job with this and of course, CODA, which won an Oscar. 

From the time she was a toddler, Lou Ann Walker acted as the ears and voice for her parents, who had lost their hearing at a young age. As soon as she was old enough to speak, her childhood ended, and she immediately assumed the responsibility of interpreter—translating doctors’ appointments and managing her parents’ business transactions. Their family life was warm and loving, but outside the home, they faced a world that misunderstood and often rejected them. 

In this deeply moving memoir, Walker offers us a glimpse of a different world, bringing with it a broader reflection on how parents grow alongside their children and how children learn to navigate the world through the eyes of their parents.

Short Story Wednesday: "The Wife On Ambien," Ed Park

 https://www.newyorker.com/books/flash-fiction/the-wife-on-ambien

As someone who takes Ambien, I can attest to some unusual things that happen under the influence. Although usually it's Amazon orders that I remember considering but not ordering. For instance, I considered making my NYT subscription digital rather than print and apparently I did do that because no paper was here today but a change in billing email was. Also I sometimes find cracker crumbs on my chest in the morning. I also have had deliveries of clothing in the wrong size so I am not as careful under Ambien.

A bit worrisome. I have been advised to powder the hall in front of my door to make sure I don't leave the apartment at night.  As a child I walked in my sleep so it may not be the Ambien at all. 

Fun story anyway.  

Jerry House 

George Kelley 

TracyK 

Kevin Tipple 

Casual Debris 

Todd Mason 

Monday, Monday

 It looks like CHINA BEACH is streaming on a new streaming channel called HOWDY, which is $1.99 a month. Some of the original music has been replaced. 

Three great movies. Third was It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley. Who I'd never heard of. Have you? 

Finished the latest season of UNFORGOTTEN, which was good although the third plotline may have been unnecessary. Also finished FISK, which is very funny. 

Still slogging through ANTIDOTE by Karen Russell. Just too long but well-written. Rereading THE HOUSEKEEPER AND THE PROFESSOR for my other book group. 

Beautiful weather here. Can't remember better weather over this weekend. There are a lot of festivals in Detroit area. A huge jazz festival down on the waterfront and and art festival nearby but crowds don't please me anymore. 

Kevin's classes don't start for another few days. Why get them there eight days before when there's nothing to do? And the WI kids probably went home for the holiday weekend.  

What are you up to?  

FFB: HAMNET. Maggie O'Farrell

 The movie version of this with Paul Mescale and Jessie Buckley will be released at Thanksgiving. 

 

Hamnet, William Shakespeare's only son, died at the age of eleven. HAMNET is Maggie O'Farrell's imaging of the event and the months that followed. In 1580, the Black Death was surging across England. A young Latin tutor, (never named) impregnates a woman several years his senior. Called Agnes in this novel, rather than Anne, she is a woman very much of the land, adept in mixing potions to cure whatever ailed the townsmen of Stratford. The two marry.  

This book is her story rather than her husband's. She bears three children, Hamnet is a twin to Judith, and Suzanne is their elder sister. This is a story of grief, a story of learning to accept living with a husband who is gone much of the time pursuing his writing and stage career. Not until the end of the book does Agnes come to understand what it is her husband is doing in London. This allows her some peace.

There is much about William Shakespeare that is not known, including the exact circumstances of Hamnet's death. Situating it as a result of this plague makes perfect sense.  O'Farrell has taken some of what is known about the man and made it come alive. 

Highly recommended. 

Short Story Wednesday: "The Project" from THE NEW YORKER

 https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/09/01/project-fiction-rachel-cusk

 

I really wish I had picked up the collection of short stories set in British grand houses I saw at the library sale because I am sure discerning their meanings would have been easier than this one. Maybe I will go back and get it if the sale is still on. 

The protagonist has several themes in The Project. Two friends experience childhood's end in different ways, the story of her husband's time in a hospital and their subsequent move to a city with their children. This is probably the sort of story you need to read twice and I didn't. It was easy enough to read but I didn't quite pull the strings together.  I don't mind a story that doesn't have a traditional style but this one seemed like three stories-one of them perhaps borrowed from Alice Munro's daughter. 

Todd Mason 

George Kelley 

Jerry House 

Kevin Tipple 

Monday, Monday

I didn't much enjoy FREAKIER FRIDAY. Never much of a Jamie Lee Curtis fan for one thing. I watched the Kurosawa version of HIGH AND LOW on HBO, which is great. Hopefully I will see the Spike Lee one soon. Started THE HOSTAGE and am also watching SON OF CRITCH and FISK, all on Netflix. Still watching PLATONIC on Apple and DOCTOR BLAKE Mysteries on Britbox. Although I read an alarming reason for why the show was cancelled. It's a good enough show but I don't know if I will continue given his wandering hands on set. 

Reading STONEYARD DEVOTIONAL (Charlotte Woods) and THE ANTIDOTE (Karen Russell)  Both are very good. 

Some nice weather.

Kevin and his parents are on their way to Madison. I am sad to think I won't see him until Thanksgiving. His hair is perfectly straight now. I miss the curls but that style is gone, I guess. 

What about you?