Tales from Rhapsody Home: Or, Reporting Live from Our Last Resort

When a feisty ninety-two-year-old Mainer took up residence in an assisted-living facility, he found there were at least four things he could do about it: move, die, get over it, or write this book.

For the past forty-two years, Down East Yankee John Gould has written about and been a staunch observer of the human condition. Here, Gould turns his perceptively critical lens toward lives as they are lived in an assisted-living facility. Five years ago, even though growing old still felt like an afterthought, Gould and his wife needed to move to an assisted-living community, henceforth known as "Rhapsody Home." Captivatingly charming, sarcastic, despairing, flip, taciturn, erudite, and altogether wonderful, Gould-an American original and a perfect narrator-tells the disagreeable truth about the move to Rhapsody Home. From the chef who quit because he couldn't stand the food to the apartment windows that were designed never to open, Gould, with razor sharp wit and a knack for turning a phrase, proves you can write a funny book about this very serious subject.

With a new epilogue, this is a mixture of personal narrative and skillful reportage-a remarkable first-person account of what it's like to live in an assisted-living facility, and a much needed look at the way we provide for our elders.