Rating: 
Summary: useful page-turner or a page-turner that is also useful?
Review: Elder Rage surprised me. I thought I would be reading a useful how to guide on how to deal with our parents as they grow older and wierder. Indeed it is that, however to my delight it is also a page-turner showing the real life impact on all those around the elder person with problems.I found myself picking up the book at all kinds of odd times because I could not wait to get back to the story.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic - Captivating
Review: I'm not an avid reader, but I couldn't put this book down. It is filled with tender moments, tough love, and incredibly insightful tips and resources for managing and caring for elders. This is a must read for anyone who is caring for an elder or might be some day!
Rating:
Summary: This is a remarkable book.
Review: I never expected that a book about dementia and uncontrolled anger would be so captivating. Jacqueline Marcell has written a book that, if you had asked me, I would have said couldn't be written and wouldn't sell a copy. I'd have been very wrong. This book is going to be a best seller. It's not so much the subject as the author and what she does with it. Marcell has managed to leave me laughing when by all rights I should have been crying. She takes what should be an uncomfortable subject and makes it not just fascinating but also entertaining. She never loses her quick and wry sense of humor, for example, even while she tells about being choked by her octagenarian father. She shows a rare ability to keep her perspective and her balance when she could just as easily have lost both. There is more. She peppers her book with little vignettes of her memories of the days when she was young and her parents were her whole world. My memories of my own parents are very different, yet when I read her descriptions I was transported back 40 or so years to the days when, like hers, my parents were young, vibrant, and the center of the universe. I laughed when I should have cried, and then I cried when I should have laughed. I love this book. I plan to give a copies of it to a number of friends who, like me, have parents clinging to the last of their threads. I feel an enormous closeness to Ms. Marcell because she has shared herself so intimately. Read this book, even if your parents are still young and healthy.
Rating:
Summary: In demand!
Review: I have "issues" with my aging father, and this book helped so much. I also emailed Ms. Marcell with a question, and she promptly wrote me back with a suggestion. Wow, to actually "speak in person" with the writer is quite special. I have also joined an online book lovers group called Bookcrossing.com -- please check out this website! -- where I registered this book as one of my collection. Almost immediately a gentleman in the south requested I send him my copy because of its rave reviews. I realize he's not "buying" his own copy, but through word of mouth, more of Ms. Marcell's books WILL be sold using this Bookcrossing.com website.
Rating: 
Summary: Caring for an elderly parent
Review: ELDER RAGE
Or
TAKE MY FATHER PLEASE
By Jacqueline Marcell
This is a book on how to survive caring for your aging parents. The author describes her personal experience with the day to day perils of this extreme challenge. As her parents aged and became frail, the author became the primary advocate and caretaker for them.
As you read this book you immediately feel the author's warmth and compassion. She writes this book from the heart; humorous and down to earth. She describes her childhood memories, and even discusses the childhood and adult psychological development of her raging parent. She addresses the emotional exhaustion of shifting and redefining the relationship with her parents.
This book can provide significant insight and affirmation to someone who, much like the author, is in the throws of this difficult and challenging responsibility. The personal history provided is very interesting. Yet, the two most valuable parts of this book seem to be:
1) the tactics or strategies the author found herself creating along the way. Such as when her father continued to loose his keys and the author bought small, lightweight pet tags to place on the keychain with her phone number on the tag. Or when she discovered she could use a large plastic bag to help slide her mother into the car seat.
2) the "Valuable Resources" list at the back of the book. This list is ten pages of resources all of which can inform and support a family going through this difficult time.
For the person going through this challenge and trying to navigate through all the frustrating medical and professional systems, this book while loaded with detail, provides exceptional insight and affirmation for the caretaker.
Rating:
Summary: Time well spent!
Review: Finding time to even read a book is difficult when caregiving 24/7 - so it's especially nice to use the limited time available for such a wonderful, personal account of the challenges one experiences in this journey. This book is definitely worth your precious time.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: I read Elder Rage cover to cover in about a day and a half, it was completely engrossing and I couldn't put it down. There were so many things I could relate to personally in her story - both from my own family history and from my time working for a company that provides care for the elderly. I could see my own family and the families of our clients in the story and found myself feeling the frustration of the author, and the pain and the joy right along with her. The book is well-written, painfully honest and wonderfully humorous as well. This one is a MUST READ!
Rating:
Summary: Valuable tips & information shared in a great story!
Review: Vivid, Valuable, Visual!
Jacqueline's story of her difficult quest to find the right solution to help her ailing, elderly parents reads like a 'who done it'! What will Jake do next? Can she find a way to put him away for good for the safety of her mother? Will she have the strength to really do that if it becomes necessary? I am the caregiver for my Mom who is 85 and has dementia and I found so much helpful information in this book. Mom is not into rages (at least at this point) but we do have our moments when she gets angry with me when I have to take some action to care for her that she does not like. The behavior modification techniques, the how to turn the conversation around suggestions, I am now using on a daily basis. It is a hard road for all of us but Jackie certainly helps smooth out some of the bumps and gives us the OK to see the humor in some of the things that happen. I really enjoyed reading this book and I am going to recommend it to all my friends who may not be in the caregiver role right now but could certainly be there in the future. They will benefit from having this knowledge and resources ahead of time. When I first realized my Mom was beginning to exhibit signs of dementia I did extensive research on the Internet looking for help and answers. Wish I had read this book a year ago. It would have helped me understand what was happening and how to continue to love and cherish my Mom despite the sometimes difficult days we face. It also taught me the value of living in the moment - to cherish the good days and times and hold them tight in my memory and in my heart. If you are caring for an elderly person or may be in the future, you should buy this book and read it now. I say buy it because you will want to keep it and refer back to it often. Thank you, Jackie, for writing this wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: Great guide for the caregiver
Review: This was a great book written in story form. It recounted the trials and tribulations of caring for elderly parents. I could relate to Jackie's story and consider the book to be an invaluable aid in my journey as a caregiver for my 97 year old mother. Her storytelling method held my interest. I couldn't put the book down. I recommend it for anyone who is in the position of caring for an elderly loved one. Lots of useful information and many tips and tricks in getting what one needs in providing care.
Rating:
Summary: You NEED this wonderful book!
Review: If you have a loved one with Alzheimer's Disease, Dementia or memory problems, you must read this book!
I had the pleasure of first hearing this author on the radio telling stories about her personal struggle with her Dad's Alzheimers. A quick search on the internet and I found her website: http://www.elderrage.com What a wealth of information!
My next step was to order her book, so I ordered 3 copies so my brother and sister could each have one! Perhaps the most wonderful part of this book is the author's ability to tell her story in a way you can identify with -- you feel you are there with her -- and in my case, walking down the same path with my father!
I have read many books on this topic, but never found anyone who has written so wonderfully the struggle for families who have a loved one with Alzheimers! She learned so many lessons that she shares -- things you will want to know and need to know how to deal with effectively.
I can not begin to tell you how proud I am to have her book at my bedside. Jacqueline Marcell is to be complimented for a grand piece of work, as well as self-publishing her own book. THANK YOU is all I can say to this author, and You NEED this wonderful book is all I can say to you!
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