reviews

"For millions of sufferers and their families, Alzheimer's is a bleak and arduous experience. Yet Fuchs' unsentimental and often wry memoir should help them by showing that though there are certainly dark and precipitous times near the end, a life examined with totality and compassion can make that eventual end an experience not only of tragedy but dignified fulfillment."

-Los Angeles Times

"Fuchs celebrates the richness and folly of life and language in this loving and often funny tribute to her nonconformist mother... Never mawkish, this is a tender tale of an idiosyncratic, independent woman and her daughter's reluctant love."

-Publisher's Weekly
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"Fuchs may have been worn out from the years of caring for her mother, but her appreciation for the tragically absurd remains undimmed."

Maureen Corrigan on NPR
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"A paradoxical line is finely drawn between tragedy and comedy; Fuchs depicts her mother's gradual deterioration with humor, sensitivity, and grief that becomes more profound as Lillian weakens. This literate book with its classical underpinnings is an easy, delightful read and highly recommended."

-Library Journal

"[A] book filled with unexpected glimmers of hope, wisdom and joy... Making an Exit also possesses a delightfully wicked sense of humor and a sharp eye for quirky detail. [Fuchs] employs a deft and efficient prose style, one akin to Augusten Burroughs, David Sedaris and Anne Lamott."

-Atlanta Journal Constitution

"[A] wry account... [Fuchs'] brisk prose effectively capture Lillian's energy, the oddities of communication that Alzheimer's imposes, the endless grind of arranging and placating caregivers, and her own emotional landscape when she finds herself trapped in a state of emergency that lasts a decade... Fuchs has achieved a beautiful balance of humor and tragedy—all wrung from the same mess of real life."

-Kirkus Reviews

"Stand[s] out in the literature for [its] exquisite insights into the impact of the disease on both the care recipient and the caregiver... This book was a joy to read. It felt as if I were reading a well-written script, part drama and part comedy. More than a narrative about aging and loss, it is a story of love's triumph."