Publisher's Synopsis
This is an account of the final moments of our lives - the room, the bed, the companions, the last faces we see, the last voices we hear, our last thoughts.;For more than a year, Tracy Kidder spent most of his time at Linda Manor, a nursing home, befriending, eating with, being entertained by 121 different people, each living out life's closing stages. What did he discover? 121 individuals - actors, cranks, charmers, comedians, optimists, fatalists. He discovered who the Nudniks were, what it is to Stupidivise and the function of the Vampire Lady. And, most importantly, he discovered Lou, a gracious 90-year-old from the back streets of Philadelphia, a man who worked his way from floor-sweeper to factory manager, and Joe, an irascible 72, with a BA, an MA and a law degree, whose successful career was ended by a stroke. Through the friendship between Lou and Joe, two strangers who find themselves sharing their final days, Tracy Kidder uncovers not only two very different lives, but two stories that are part of the story that belongs to us all.;This is an account of the place where life and death coexist. Tracy Kidder is the author of the Pulitzer Prize winner "The Soul of a New Machine", "House" and "Among Schoolchildren".
