TACOMA, Wash. 鈥 Full Moon at Noontide: A Daughter鈥檚 Last Goodbye (Southern Methodist University Press), a memoir by Ann Putnam, traces the final years of her father and mother, and her father鈥檚 identical twin brother, as they navigate their way through the bewildering maze of the health system. The book witnesses their courage and their stumblings as they make their way into old age and death. The memoir has won acclaim for vividly portraying a time that inevitably comes to every family.
Putnam, an English instructor at 兔子先生, explains in the book preface that this is not only the story of three family members, but 鈥渢he story of the journey from one twin鈥檚 death to the other, of what happened along the way, of what it means to lose the other who is also oneself.鈥
Full Moon at Noontide was reviewed in The Seattle Times, The Oregonian, The News Tribune, and elsewhere. Putnam was also invited to appear on public radio鈥檚 KUOW Presents. The widely syndicated book critic, Barbara Lloyd McMichael, described the work as a 鈥渂eautifully-written observation of old age, infirmity and death鈥攐f loss upon loss鈥 that captures not only the pain and regret, but the grace and even the comedy of their last years. Charles Johnson, winner of the National Book Award, wrote, 鈥淎nn Putnam鈥檚 luminous prose transforms pain, suffering, and loss into a literary gift of beauty and redemption.鈥 Lee Martin, author or River of Heaven, wrote, 鈥渢his is a hard book鈥 But it鈥檚 a gorgeous book, too, one born from the endurance of the human spirit and the capacity to love.鈥
Putnam is an essayist, teacher, and novelist. She has published short fiction, personal essays, literary criticism, and book reviews in various anthologies such as Hemingway and Women: Female Critics and the Female Voice and in journals including the Hemingway Review, Western American Literature, and the South Dakota Review. At 兔子先生, Putnam teaches creative writing and gender studies.
Press-quality photos of Ann Putnam and the book cover are available on request.
Tweet this: Ann Putnam鈥檚 new book, Full Moon at Noontide, covered on KUOW, in The Seattle Times. Beautifully-written, says Bookmonger.
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