Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful and insightful
Review: "The Worst Day of My Life, So Far" by M.A. Harper deals with Jeanne, who was taking care of her mother, Velma who was suffering from Alzheimer. Jeanne, had to leave her life when her father died and she was left with the responsibility of caring for her mother. Harper gives a detailed account of what Jeanne had to go through to care for her mother, ranging from inadequate sleep to frequent disturbances from her mother. It also increases her anxiety as she was constantly worried that her mother would do something (without meaning to) to harm herself. Adding to the backdrop of this is the life of Jeanne, how she dropped out of college, got pregnant, married the wrong guy. She was not having a good relationship with her son, and basically, she was not happy. I like this book because I think the author paints a realistic picture of Alzheimer's and that it is hardest for people to care for the ill. Sufferers of Alzheimer's are totally different people from who they were and every day is an attempt to survive and to be mentally stable as you need to be focus when you take care of the ill. It is also a full time job and that others around you might not understand what you're going through unless they experience it themselves. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about Alzheimer's more from the view point of those who take care of the patients and how it affects their lives.
Rating:
Summary: Realistic and enjoyable at the same time!
Review: As a person who has experienced Alzheimer's firsthand, I can say that Harper really captures what it is like to lose a family member while their physical presence still exists. The main character is not your average normal person nor is her realtionship with her mother typical. I think that gives the story more edge and readability. The Buchanan marriage is believable for its time as are the characters. The story carries quickly and seamlessly. Our heroine isn't the beautiful, perfect person, but a flawed and honest character. Great writing, great read.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: I absolutely loved this book. I could identify with Jeanne on so many different levels. I've known the worry, fear and frustrations of having to deal with a sick parent and could relate to many of the feelings Jeanne was experiencing. A beautifully written book, full of humor and sadness. I would recommend this book to all, regardless of whether they have had to deal with a sick parent or not.
Rating:
Summary: Best Read of the Year, So Far!
Review: I laughed until I cried! And then I would just cry! I could not put it down. I read through most of the night and could not wait to get home from work the next day to finish it. I am taking care of an elderly mother and could relate to the frustration, comedy, and love in this book. I really do not believe that you have to be living the story to appreciate it. It is a good read without the wonderful lessons, but the lessons about family, sacrifice, and Altzheimer's is a plus. I recommend it to anyone, but especially to someone new to caring for an elderly parent. It will help! ENJOY!
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Summary: The real story of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's
Review: I read this book because I was told it was humorous. As a professional Geriatric Care Manager, I did not find it funny in the traditional sense, but rather one of the most important books about Alzheimer's disease I have ever found. I will recommend this book to all of my "Dutiful Daughters" and an occassional son who are living this. Although it is very hard to read if you are in the midst of fulfilling a caregiver role, I think the value is immense. Congratulations to M.A.Harper for telling such a meaningful story..............it needs to be read by many.
Rating: 
Summary: Most Mediocre Book I've Read This Year, So Far
Review: Jeanne Roth, a divorced, adrift, 40-something, leaves her comfortable life in New York City and returns to Auletta, Georgia to care for her Alzheimer's afflicted mother, Velma. Either Harper endured a similar experience herself, or she is an extremely gifted fiction writer (I guess both are possible, actually), because the struggle between mother and daughter is so real. The feelings Jeanne expresses are so intense. This is a train of thought novel, almost like Jeanne's private journal. It deals with being middle-aged and alone, family relationships-particularly Jeanne's relationships with her son, Rad, and her ex-husband, Larry-and learning to come to terms with the ravages of Alzheimer's. This was a really instructive read, for me, as my grandmother had Alzheimer's, and it helped me better understand what my own mother must have dealt with. But more than that, it was a truly poignant, often funny and memorable mother/daughter tale.
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Summary: wrenching novel explores more than ravages of Alzheimer's
Review: M. A. Harper has written a most unusual gem of a novel, one which treats the brutally depressing theme of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's with grace, insight and humor. Not only does "The Worst Day of My Life, So Far" feature a completely believable protagonist; the novel compels the engaged reader to consider its corollary themes of failed marriage, frustrated parenting, ethical decision-making and existential despair. Harper pulls no punches in her narrative, recounted by the ironically anguished/bemused/furious voice of lonely, bewildered and angry Jeanne Buchanan Roth. The author deliberately introduces a high level of discomfort in her work and refuses to back down from requiring her audience to confront the multiple nightmares of caring for a parent whose ability to function is permanently reduced by mental deterioration. Jeanne's deep ambivalence, emotional isolation and individual lack of fulfillment provoke the reader's sympathy. Jeanne's character, tormented by self-doubt and misgivings as to her decisions, maintains its dynamism through her internal monologues and compels our emotional linkage with her by virtue of her onerous circumstances. Jeanne Roth can't have a life any worse than the one she is living. The child of a glamorous, distant mother who literally devotes her life to enshrining her annointed husband, C. Ray, Jeanne spends her youth living in the shadow of an idealized marriage. Unloved and unsure of herself, Jeanne never develops an internal strength necessary for mature adult life. Riddled with questions of her own worth, she vaults into an ill-considered marriage which, not surprisingly, flounders and fails. Her mother's certainties about wifely devotion and motherhood stand as symbolic rebukes and repudiations of Jeanne's attempts at family life. Chilled by her own coldness, Jeanne cannot connect with her husband or her son. Never confident about her appearance (a worry encourged by her mother's incessant belittling of Jeanne) and adrift in a life that yearns to escape her suffocating Louisiana roots, Jeanne is reluctantly convinced to return home to care for her mother, Velma, in order to honor her father's last wishes. "Worst Day" chronicles Jeanne's homecoming and her seemingly-endless obligations to the deteriorating Velma. "I've never had much of a life, and that's pretty much my own fault. I didn't know how to make things work [with my husband]. I've never known how to really connect [with my son]. I don't know exactly just what I have to show for my life. And now, it's over. Dead and buried in Auletta, Louisiana, Official Rectum of The Western World." Yet, there is not a drop of self-pity or self-absorbtion in this gutty novel. Instead, M. A. Harper elects to require the reader to confront every mixed message or panic over a botched decsion we may have experienced ourselves. This invitation to introspection bnds us in an alliance with Jeanne and her turmoil over her life. By so doing, her fears and ambivalences become our own.
Rating: 
Summary: So far, so good
Review: My grandmother has just been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and I'm already experiencing some of the feelings Harper does such a brilliant job of describing in this story... the guilt, the frustration, the hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel. From reading other reviews of this book, the author also does a great job of depicting how the disease progresses.
"The Worst Day of My Life, So Far" is about Jeanne, taking care of her mother, Velma who was suffering from Alzheimer. Jeanne promised her beloved father, C. Ray, that she would take care of Velma. Harper does a wonderful job of describing the love between her parents and the relationship she had with her mother. The characters are so well described, the reader can easily connect with them.
There, of course, are subplots in terms of her husband, son and brother and his family. All of the characters are woven well.
Harper's ability to tell with grace and humor the story of Jeanne, her relationship with her mother and the effects of Alheimer's on the once goddess-like Velma is well worth the read.
I didn't like all the Hobbit references. And perhaps I haven't been around my grandmother enough to be as hateful as I at times read Jeanne to be. Perhaps as grandma's disease progresses, I'll understand better.
Rating:
Summary: Must Read for Caretakers
Review: Today people lament the negative effects of the high divorce rate of America's children, but M. A. Harper's protagonist struggles with her parents' legacy of the perfect marriage. As the unattractive (as she sees it) child of a beautiful mother, Jeanne Buchanan is by God's handiwork (as a family friend sees it) conveniently divorced and available when her widowed mother, now in the final phases of Alzheimer's, needs round-the-clock care. So Jeanne returns to a small town in Louisiana and eventually comes to terms with her past. This book deals with an important topic--caretaking of aged parents, and as the baby boomers face this problem with their own parents we will no doubt see more books of this type. And it deals realistically and poignantly, occasionally humorously, with the subject. The book is uneven. It has moments that are genuine and gracefully written, but late in the novel the author awkwardly experiments with changes in the point of view. A must read for people who find themselves in the role of caretaker. But don't expect too much.
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Summary: A Female Mark Twain
Review: What a ferocious book, what a scathing wit this writer has! Harper dares to speak the unspoken (and frequently funny) thoughts that many care givers have, but are hesitant to share with those of us who might not understand. Chronically sleep-deprived, often suspected by other family members of trying to loot the Alzheimer's patient's bank account (or worse), these unsung heroes or heroines labor in the most thankless of jobs, under the most demoralizing of circumstances. Who can blame them if their worldview is less than rosy? What might have become some drearily maudlin "movie of the week" tale in less sure hands instead is a bracing slap of cold water into the faces of those of us who live ordinary lives and don't have the good sense to be thankful for them. Mark Twain would've loved this woman and loved her book. He, too, derived his wild humor from the darkest of personal circumstances. Just as you don't have to be a riverboat pilot to enjoy his most famous works, neither do you have to know anyone with Alzheimer's disease to laugh at loud at this furious but funny novel.
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