I wish I could say otherwise, that taking care of them brought out the best in me. Did your feelings of resentment for them intensify when you had to assume the role of caregiver? Throughout the book, you are very honest about your fraught relationship with your parents-especially your mother. I was surprised by how much the body can endure and still survive, and also by the amount of paperwork. The last grandparent died when I was in college. Two other grandparents died when I was around three or four. One of my grandfathers died before I was born. I knew very, very little about that stage of life, so in a way, the whole thing was surprising. What was most surprising to you about the process? It was a way of remembering the experience of caring for them, and also a way of remembering them.Īs a reader, I got the impression that caring for your parents at this stage in their lives was a bit like driving blind. How did you decide to write Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?

Together, the three of them navigate the last years of her parents’ lives, the brutal realities of aging, and the bittersweet comedy of reaching the end of the road.Ĭhast talked to JWA about the book, her parents, and her new aversion to second-hand shops.Ĭaring for aging parents in their final years is a fairly universal experience, but there are very few books on the subject. We meet her mother Elizabeth, a domineering woman who always had the last word, and her father George, an anxious man who adored Elizabeth. As an only child, Chast was wholly responsible for making sure her aging parents were safe and taken care of, despite their tendency to drive her completely nuts. In her first graphic memoir, Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, Chast dives into the always frustrating, often funny, sometimes surreal world of elder care. Roz Chast is one of The New Yorker’s most enduringly popular cartoonists, beloved for her signature neurotic style and quick wit.

Bring Me Home by Roz Alexander