Tales from Rhapsody Home: Or What They Don't Tell You About Senior Living (Select Series) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

John Gould (Author)

Book Description

Series: Select Series | Publication Date: April 2002

Down East Yankee John Gould, age ninety-two, has spent most of the last century observing and writing about the human condition. Now he presents a whole new perspective on life as he leads us into the brave new world of the assisted-living facility. Charming, sarcastic, despairing, flip, taciturn, erudite, and altogether wonderful--with a razor sharp wit and a knack for turning a phrase--Mr. Gould is an American original and a perfect tour guide. Whether he's complaining to management about his apartment windows that don't open or socializing with the other "inmates" at happy hour; whether wondering why they put a napkin over the stone-cold bread at dinner or taking comfort in the memories ("making do with the reruns") of his loving and eccentric collection of old friends and colleagues from Maine, Mr. Gould proves that you can write a funny book about a serious subject, namely, how we treat our elderly.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...ultimate insider's expose...with humor as sharp and poignant as a late-summer breeze." -- USA Today --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

ONCE UPON a long-ago time, I was a fine-looking young man with fire in my eye, zeal in my heart, and a haircut that cost twenty-five cents." So begins Tales from Rhapsody Home, ninety-two-years-old John Gould's entertaining look at how he arrived, quite suddenly, at old age and found himself living in a retirement community. With razor-sharp wit and comic sensibility, Mr. Gould offers advice and guidance to those of us ready or not quite ready for the "comforts" of assisted living.

Rhapsody Home is a mythical name, but the place is real-John Gould and his wife, Dorothy, have been living there for the past four and a half years. Mr. Gould, the author of dozens of books about life in small-town Maine, turns his critical eye toward a different kind of small town. And he captures perfectly the absurd rules and quaint idiosyncrasies of this brave new world. Whether he's complaining to management about his windows that don't open or swapping tales at happy hour with Mr. Reynolds about his gas and her hernia, whether he's wondering why they put a napkin over the stone-cold bread at dinner or taking comfort from memories of his loving and eccentric collection of old friends and colleagues, Mr. Gould is by turns sarcastic, charming, taciturn, erudite, hilarious, and wicked-but he is always altogether wonderful. John Gould is an American original. The rest of us can only hope that when it's our turn to check into a Rhapsody Home, we're lucky enough to have a neighbor like him.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 164 pages
• Publisher: Isis Large Print Books (April 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0753164698
• ISBN-13: 978-0753164693
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,939,464 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gruffly charming, and wise, December 29, 2000

By 

David J. Loftus (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tales From Rhapsody Home : Or, What They Don't Tell You About Senior Living (Hardcover)

Odds are this is the best book by a nonagenarian you are likely to read this year. Gould, a Down East Yankee and columnist for the Christian Science Monitor since 1942, offers a collection of short commentaries from an assisted living center. The book isn't simply a humorous indictment of the foibles and peculiarities of life in a retirement home (though there is plenty of that, from comments about food to the saga of the unopenable window and the familiar refrain "There is nothing to be done about it"). The author ranges across all his 92 years to draw on memories of doctors, raising bees with his Grandfather, and the perfect tomato.

This is a great book for reading out loud, my wife and I found -- the sentences tend to be short and simple, belying the emotional nuances and complexity of the thoughts underneath. The author is not a simple, genteel sort, despite the appearance of his prose. There are passages on the joys of farting humor, reproductions of the light verse with which he lampooned the failures of the management (these never survived more than three minutes on the bulletin board because they "offended the staff"), and a truly fierce (but nevertheless funny) indictment of the insurance industry.

Think of this book as Robert Fulghum in a retirement home and you'll be close to it.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for anyone who is, knows, or plans to be, an elder., December 13, 2000

By 

Linda L. Lapointe "Author, Speaker" (Pueblo, CO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tales From Rhapsody Home : Or, What They Don't Tell You About Senior Living (Hardcover)

A long term care and assisted living administrator for manyyears, this book amused me, unnerved me, angered me. I hooted withlaughter and got choked up with sympathy. A gifted wordsmith and storyteller both, Gould spun a tale I couldn't put down. I thoroughlyenjoyed digesting his delicious words and phrases. Educational,entertaining and absorbing; a must read for any aged reader. LindaLaPointe,MRA,...

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars John Gould has prepared me for my turn in 'Rhapsody Home', June 18, 2002

By 

Peter Kushkowski (Portland, CT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tales From Rhapsody Home : Or, What They Don't Tell You About Senior Living (Hardcover)

I purchased my copy of John Gould's "Rhapsody Home" when vacationing on midcoast Maine near his hometown of Rockland. Knowing that Gould was somewhere nearby made the reading that much more meaningful for me. I also related in these ways: There may be a 'Rhapsody Home' in my not too distant future. Also, unable to contain my enthuisiasm for the book, I read select passages aloud to my wife who retired as the head RN at a 'Rhapsody Home.' The nature of her responses validated for me the authenticity of John Gould's rhapsodic musings.