The Caregiver's Tale : : Loss and Renewal in Memoirs of Family Life / / Ann Burack-Weiss.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Columbia University Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Burack-Weiss, Ann,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : Columbia University Press, , [2006]; ©2006
• Year of Publication: 2006
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (216 p.)

Ann Burack-Weiss explores a rich variety of published memoirs by authors who cared for ill or disabled family members. Contrary to the common belief that caregiving is nothing more than a stressful situation to be endured, memoirs describe a life transforming experience-self-discovery, a reordering of one's priorities, and a changed view of the world. The Caregiver's Tale offers insight and comfort to individuals caring for a loved one and is a valuable resource for all health care professionals.Identifying common themes, Burack-Weiss describes how the illness career and social meaning of cancer, dementia, HIV/AIDS, mental illness, and chemical dependence affect the caregiving experience. She applies the same method to an examination of family roles: parents caring for ailing children, couples and siblings caring for one another, and adult children caring for aging parents. Jamaica Kincaid, Sue Miller, Paul Monette, Kenzaburo Oë, and Philip Roth are among the many authors who share their caregiving stories. Burack-Weiss provides an annotated bibliography of the more than one hundred memoirs and an accompanying chart to help readers locate those of greatest interest to them.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Crystallized Love -- Part 1. Care Situations -- 1. Introduction: "The Flavor of the Name" -- 2. Cancer: "Cancer's Gift" -- 3. Dementia: "Everything Crumbles" -- 4. HIV/AIDS: "Burden of a Secret" -- 5. Mental Illness/Chemical Dependence: "Companion Demons" -- Part 2. Care Relationships -- 6. Introduction: "Spun in Love's Loom" -- 7. Child Care: "An Unimagined Life" -- 8. Sibling Care: "She Was My Parents' Child, and So Was I" -- 9. Couple Care: "This Terrible Traffic Regulation" -- 10. Parent Care: "The Consummate Act" -- Part 3. The Memoirs -- 11. Introduction: "Jointly Human" -- 12. Memoirs in Brief: "Our Inward Journey" -- 13. Epilogue 139 -- Appendix 1: The Memoirs, by Care Relationship and Care Situation -- Notes -- Sources Cited -- Index