In my last post, I recommended Promise Me, by Nancy Brinker, with Joni Rogers. One reason is the unusual and effective presentation of Brinker's story.
From the opening page of chapter one, Brinker presents her autobiography in chronological order on white pages. But every 10-30 pages, the narrative pauses so Brinker can interject stories of others' journeys, as well as her current insights, disappointments, frustrations, expectations and hopes.
Brinker's present-day reflections transform this autobiography from one person's personal story of survivorship to a bigger story of breast-cancer survivorship in the modern age. To make it super-easy for the reader to know what's going on, these enlightening interruptions are printed on gray paper.
To give you a taste, after describing her heated argument with a friend, Rose Kushner, about First Lady Nancy Reagan's decision to undergo mastectomy, Brinker says,
The gift [of cancer] is a second chance at life and a new fulcrum from which to balance our options and priorities. We are more than the sum of our cells. More, even, than the sum of our dreams. We are, as Camus said, the sum of our choices, creating and re-creating ourselves day by day. When we chose an act of kindness, we are kind. When we choose an act of courage, we are brave.... Life goes on, and kindly, bravely, we must each find our way. [page 251 (gray paper)]
As a Healthy Survivor who believes I'm always a "work in progress," I couldn't have said it better.
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