Editorial Content for Unforgettable: A Son, a Mother, and the Lessons of a Lifetime
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Scott Simon, host of NPR’s “Weekend Edition Saturday,” writes lovingly of his mother in this memoir about the days leading up to her death. The book starts with the call that she’s in the hospital, and Simon weaves stories of her life through an account of her death. As mother and son make their way through her final hours together, the reader is introduced to the glamorous Patricia, who manages her last moments as she has led her life: with style and panache.
Simon’s mother is a woman who draws affection and admiration from everyone around her. Even lying in the hospital’s ICU, she manages to get to know and make friends of all the nurses and staff who are hard at work. Remarkably, she appears to love the people she knew throughout her life as genuinely as they care for her: as Simon and his mother discuss former husbands and a long line of boyfriends in between, she has a kind word for each of them. Mostly she declares them lovely. And it seems that, despite the rough patches she and Simon went through while he was growing up, she always emerged with the ability to put a positive spin on a situation. Simon’s depiction of his mother should give us all hope that that outlook truly does prove a determining factor in life’s outcomes.
"UNFORGETTABLE is a very touching monument to a mother who made her son feel like he had everything, from a son who clearly feels he has her to thank for everything."
The life Simon describes in UNFORGETTABLE is not one purely to be envied. His mother seems to have gone through a revolving door of typical female jobs from the 1950s forward without making much progress in terms of economic security: secretary, salesgirl, model, server. She slept on a fold-out couch while he was growing up so he could have his own room. She was lucky and unlucky in love: she found it often, but just as frequently experienced heartbreak and disappointment. His father died of alcoholism, and her mother committed suicide (something she also once attempted). In spite of the significant turmoil these events must have thrown her into, she seems to have moved forward without bitterness --- something that is rare towards the end, even among lifelong optimists.
The recollections are charming, there’s no doubt about that. Simon’s mother was a sparkling sweetheart who never lost her zest for life. However, the book has some of the pitfalls that frequently plague memoirs, especially those about loved ones. It seems unlikely that Patty really expressed as little dissatisfaction throughout her life as he presents here. Even with such vim and vigor, someone who attempted suicide undoubtedly has experienced inner turmoil. And while it is tempting to gloss over the difficulties of life in a celebration of what a loved one stood for, these less-than-perfect attributes are often those that make a person more comprehensible.
You will swoon over her, but you will also feel that Simon left out some of the parts that made his mother who she was --- attractive, affectionate and loving, but also dynamic and definitely tough.
UNFORGETTABLE is a very touching monument to a mother who made her son feel like he had everything, from a son who clearly feels he has her to thank for everything.
Teaser
When NPR’s Scott Simon began tweeting from his mother’s hospital room in July 2013, he didn’t know that his missives would soon spread well beyond his 1.2 million Twitter followers. Over the course of a few days, Simon chronicled his mother’s death and reminisced about her life, revealing her humor and strength, and celebrating familial love. UNFORGETTABLE expands on those famous tweets to create a memoir that is rich, deeply affecting, heart-wrenching and exhilarating.
Promo
When NPR’s Scott Simon began tweeting from his mother’s hospital room in July 2013, he didn’t know that his missives would soon spread well beyond his 1.2 million Twitter followers. Over the course of a few days, Simon chronicled his mother’s death and reminisced about her life, revealing her humor and strength, and celebrating familial love. UNFORGETTABLE expands on those famous tweets to create a memoir that is rich, deeply affecting, heart-wrenching and exhilarating.
About the Book
"I'm getting a life's lesson about grace from my mother in the ICU.
We never stop learning from our mothers, do we?"
UNFORGETTABLE is a son's spirited, affecting, and inspiring tribute to his remarkable mother and the love between parent and child.
When NPR's Scott Simon began tweeting from his mother's hospital room in July 2013, he didn't know that his missives would soon spread well beyond his 1.2 million Twitter followers. Squeezing the magnitude of his final days with her into 140-character updates, Simon's evocative and moving meditations spread virally. Over the course of a few days, Simon chronicled his mother's death and reminisced about her life, revealing her humor and strength, and celebrating familial love.
UNFORGETTABLE, expands on those famous tweets to create a memoir that is rich, deeply affecting, heart-wrenching and exhilarating. His mother was a glamorous woman of the Mad Men–era; she worked in nightclubs, modeled, dated mobsters and movie stars, and was a brave single parent to young Scott Simon. Spending their last days together in a hospital ICU, mother and son reflect on their lifetime's worth of memories, recounting stories laced with humor and exemplifying resilience.
UNFORGETTABLE is not only one man's rich and moving tribute to his mother's colorful life and graceful death, it is also a powerful portrayal of the universal bond between mother and child.
