Customer Reviews

Leisure Seeker, The: A Novel

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What a weird and wonderful book.

First of all, Zadoorian, although his name is Michael, must be a very wise,

old woman. As you can see from the book description, this is the story of

an old couple who escape all of the preconceptions of how they should live

their short, remaining time on this earth. It is written in the voice of

Ella, who you just have to describe as spunky.

She has cancer and in spite of it (or actually because of it),

she decides that she and her husband John, who has alzheimer's, will,

against the recommendations/advice/admonishments/threats and pleas of

their children and doctors, take their beloved Leisure Seeker RV on the

road one last time to retrace a previous journey over what is left of

Route 66.

So it's a road trip for octogenarians.

Which means all of the associated dramas and circumstances of aging

(humorous and sad) come along for the ride.

And that's why I say that Michael Zadoorian must be a wise old lady.

Writing in the voice of Ella, he gives us all of the wisdom, the humorous

and bittersweet insights of people who have lived a full life and now,

facing death, take the time to contemplate that life and savor it as it is

coming to an end.

But be aware, this is not some depressing book filled with nothing but

complaints about aging and sadness about the good old days being gone.

It is funny, bittersweet, tense and hysterical. Things happen! This

is a story that moves along and, like any good book, you keep wanting

to get back to it to see what will happen next. Very importantly,

there are no false dramas used to move things along. There are no

trumped up dark family secrets so often used to create fake tension.

The beauty of this story is the normal-ness. These are plain people

who are interesting just because we can identify so much with their

insights and lives. Their choice is actually to continue to be as

normal as they can be: to not be crammed into all of these last minute

definitions of "patient", "cancer sufferer", "old person" and the rest

of it, and try to do something that for them is quite normal: get in

the RV and take a vacation from all of that!

Best of all, at the end of the day, you love these people.

You come to wish that you could have the chance to be one of the

people they meet along the way.

Zadoorian gives you that wonderful chance.

Just because a book is not of great literary merit or is a quick and entertaining read does not mean that it lacks depth or does not win my round of applause. Michael Zadoorian was able to strike a certain deep chord within my soul with his bittersweet story of Ella and John Rowina, an elderly couple in decline. Ella has incurable cancer, and John has dementia. Together they agree, if John is indeed capable of making any decision, to leave Detroit, against the wishes of their two grown children, to take a road trip in their Leisure Seeker to Disneyland. Does this sound silly? It's anything but that.

Theirs is a story of love, fear, determination, and joy. They travel southwest together at a leisurely pace, all the while reminiscing about the past, perhaps in an effort to avoid thinking about the future. Declining mental and physical health is no picnic after all. The Rowinas' story had me laughing on one page, crying the next, and running away quickly on yet other pages to quickly copy down some notable quotes.

What this author does is hit the right notes. He tells the poignant story of aging with its accompanying physical and mental decline. For a long time in our own lives, aging is a process involving others. Eventually, however, we will all see this on our own horizon. As a result, this book may be less interesting to a younger person, but for someone nearing or in his golden years as I am, this book so totally expresses our feelings.

I admit that some of this novel's scenes tended to get a bit repetitive towards the end as the elderly couple moved from one city to another. By that time, however, that issue didn't bother me at all as I had already grown to love this feisty pair. So much so, in fact, that it was extremely hard to say goodbye to them as I finished reading this touching novel.

I had such a good time reading this book because it made me think about aging and what happens and how much it changes you - yet is something you cannot escape! The ultimate love story and full of laughter, tears and capers and explores what it means to take your life back even it is seeming to come to an end - gripping and heartbreaking, yet wonderful!

I so enjoyed this book. It was so sad at times and so very funny most of the time. Having just lost my husband to Alzheimer's, so much of the book was so real to me. My husband was a wonderful driver, also, and loved to drive. He eventually could only drive with me as his co-pilot. Zadoorian did a beautiful job with both John and Ella.

This book put me in the such a nostalgic mood. I was ready to go out and buy a camper. I camped as a child and again with my husband and children in our early marriage. Some of their memories in the story were very much like mine. The couple in this story pulled at my heart. I was rooting for them to make it to their destination even if the husband was never quite sure where he was going. Their relationship is something we all hope to achieve with our significant others. Even as their bodies are deteriorating they see only the person they have loved for so many years. How blessed are those that have stuck together through the long haul to have so many memories and traditions, someone who shares your history. Even as the husband continues his decline with dementia, he has lucid moments that comfort his wife and in a touching moment, his daughter. I laughed out loud at times, worried about them at times, and cried hard at times. But, I enjoyed this story completely.

I confess that when I read fiction I tend to steer away from the "mainstream". I like fiction that is off the beaten track and generally I am not much for the NYT Bestseller List. I picked this book up because the description seemed quirky and interesting and I do enjoy reading authors who don't have tons of book published. What intrigued me about this book was taking a trip down the old Route 66 and trying to remember a time when people did not fly all over the world for their vacations, but simply got in a car or camper, loaded up the kids and drove to various parts of the US. Yes, there is a side of me that longs for simplicity. Ella was a crusty character, yet at 80 years old was fully in control of her faculties. I didn't feel the 5 star reviews but I did enjoy this book. I guess there is a part of me that read this book wondering if this would be my husband and I one day. At what point does a person no longer get to decide what is right for them when death is near? Why do we feel that the adult children have more decision making power? Why do we take a person's dignity away from them? It is an interesting look into the mind of a woman who spent her whole life caring for her husband and her children.

I am so happy Michael Zadoorian wrote this book that I have to tell you about it.

The Leisure Seeker, named after a particular model of recreational vehicle, is about John and Ella, a Midwestern couple in their eighties, fading fast, taking one last road trip. John has Alzheimers and Ella, end-stage cancer. The story is told in Ella's plain, smart, funny voice (I kept thinking she sounded like Roseanne Barr).

Zadoorian writes with such humor that I found myself laughing all the way through what should have been a painful story. I loved Ella's wit and strength, and her lonely vulnerability which she keeps at bay while navigating this final voyage. She is mentally sharp but physically frail. John is the opposite. Of all the parts of his brain that are fading to black, the driving part still thrives. John is a good driver, obedient to Ella's directions. Of course, he's unreliable - she must take the keys from the ignition when they stop to ensure he doesn't drive off without her. And the gun she hides in her purse. She says that between the two of them they make one complete person.

Throughout the story, Zadoorian offers homage to a bygone America, and a certain kind of American. In Ella's words:

"We are the people who stay. We stay in our homes and pay them off. We stay at our jobs. We do our thirty and come home to stay even more. We stay until we are no longer able to mow our lawns and our gutters sag with saplings, until our houses look haunted to the neighborhood children. We like it where we are. I guess then the other question is: Why do we even travel? There can be only one answer to that: we travel to appreciate home."

The Leisure Seeker shows us what it's like to experience Alzheimer's, and in spite of the humor and periods of relative normalcy, the devastation is heartbreaking, as when John repeats this cycle: learning that a dear friend has died, grieving, forgetting, and then learning all over again of the death and experiencing the grief full-force all over again. Repeatedly. To spare him, Ella has learned to lie. The friend is fine, she says; he's just been busy.

I loved how they watched movies almost every night, wherever they camped. John sets up the slide projector and hangs a sheet on the side of the RV, Ella fixes cocktails, and they relive the memories of being a family, and of seeing their two kids growing up. One night, as Ella and John view slides of the 1967 Seattle World's Fair, a group of young people watch from the shadows. Ella invites them to sit closer. Beers are opened and the two generations, far apart in age, mingle and comment at the miniskirts and go-go boots.

Zadoorian never belabors any of this. When the story evokes the reader's tears, it's manageable, because Ella is strong. Her reflections on life are ours, and in just the right amount. The author never tells us how to think. He simply rolls the film. I liked that he had the skill and confidence to let us draw our own conclusions.

You know what I loved the most about this book? It made me stop worrying so much about being middle-aged; in fact, after I finished it, I felt downright young. And it gave me courage: I felt like maybe, whatever comes in the future as a result of aging and disease, I'll follow Ella's example and handle it.

John and Ella Robina have been married a long time, raised two children, have taken many vacations together in their Leisure Seeker van. They've been camping with it, on the road with it and they've loved it.

Now they're taking one last trip. John has Alzheimer's and on a past trip to Florida he's made Ella promise never to lock him away in a retirement home like what happened to his friend Jim. Ella has cancer. John has some good moments, where he remembers. Ella has some good moments, when she doesn't have to take her meds. Those good moments are getting father and farther apart.

Ella doesn't drive, so John is piloting the Leisure Seeker with Ella as co-pilot and she navigates them into quite a few hilarious situations, but John is still able to get them into laughing trouble without any help from Ella at all. You will laugh with John and Ella. You will cry too. And when you finish you'll have an idea what true love is all about.

John and Ella Robina have few regrets, but know there time together is counting down. She suffers from cancer and he from Alzheimer's. Over the objection of their respective doctors and their adult children Cindy and Kevin, they decide to go on a final fling together.

They leave Madison Heights, just outside Detroit, to head west on Route 66. Their destination is Disneyland. On the trek they stop at inane attractions, eat cheeseburgers, and meet friendly and not so nice Americans. As a show of defiance, Ella tosses her wig away. When his mind is lucid they look at slides of their life together. When his mind is fogged, he drives while Ella has a mission for them in Anaheim.

Although the readers will anticipate the climax, this is a deep look at the near end of life for a loving couple. Ella knows it is a matter of time before she leaves John alone, but what she wants to hear one last time from her soul mate is he calling her name. Using humor and an eccentric support cast met while traveling in their RV westward to avoid overly melodramatic inanity; fans will appreciate this elderly couple on their final leisure fling together.

Harriet Klausner

Many facets of Michael Zadoorian's, The Leisure Seeker were reminiscent of Nicholas Sparks The Notebook, perhaps because both men were writing about subjects they knew and loved. Each man chose to deliver fictionalized versions of the lives of family members and both men succeeded in giving their readers a love story to cherish and enjoy.

As I followed John and Ella Robina on their last adventure, their travels brought back personal memories of the sights and sounds experienced by my husband and myself as we packed up the car and the kids for our annual trek from California to Chicago down old Route 66.

This story of an eighty-something couple who have been married for over fifty years and are each suffering from a terminal illness who leave their Michigan home to embark on "one last road trip", much to the chagrin of their adult children, will make you smile with pleasure, sigh with nostalgia, and cry with joy.

This is a look at real life and real people and vividly illustrates that varying amounts of aggravation, devotion, tenacity, acceptance and love are necessary ingredients in any successful relationship but are absolutely indispensible factors in surviving fifty years of marriage with the same person.

This book cries out to be made into a movie. Might I suggest Jack Nicholson, James Garner or Tommy Lee Jones as John and Helen Mirren, Olympia Dukakis, or Shirley MacClaine as Ella. I'll definitely buy a ticket!