Description

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A married couple deals with the husband’s decline from Lewy body dementia in a profound and deeply moving novel shot through with Kirshenbaum's lacerating humor.

It begins with hallucinations: of a man on stilts, an acting troupe, Ghandi. At first, these seem benign, almost comical, and are likely connected with an ocular issue. It’s something he and his wife can make jokes about. But soon he starts to experience other cognitive symptoms, memory problems, disorientation. He’s a scientist, an auto-immune researcher, and still middle aged. Too young for Alzheimers. She is a moderately successful college artist. They live together with a cat — a pleasant, quiet New York City marriage. Then he receives the diagnosis of Lewy Body Disease, and its march of symptoms: aphasia, difficulty with simple tasks, losses of lucidity. 

He has a life expectancy of 3 to 8 years. There are moves as his care becomes more difficult, or he lapses into periodic and uncharacteristic acts of violence: from Leo and his wife’s apartment, to his sister’s house, then an assisted living, then another assisted living, then hospice. Health aides, a continual outflow of money. His wife does what she can, but is able to do so much less than she wants. Watching him die — too fast, and yet not fast enough. 

Kirshenbaum captures the couple’s final years and months together in short scenes that burn with anger, humor, love, and pain. With no sentimentalizing whatsoever, she tracks the brutal destruction of the disease, as well as the small moments of beauty and happiness that still exist for them amidst the larger tides of loss.

About the Author

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Binnie Kirshenbaum is the author of the story collection History on a Personal Note and seven novels, including Rabbits for Food, On Mermaid Avenue, Hester Among the Ruins, An Almost Perfect Moment, and The Scenic Route. Her novels have been chosen as Notable Books of the Year by The Chicago Tribune, NPR, TIME, the San Francisco Chronicle, and The Washington Post. Her work has been translated into seven languages.

Praise For…

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Praise for Counting Backwards

Lit Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2024

“Binnie Kirshenbaum novels are sharp, harrowing, and disarmingly funny at the rawest of moments . . . [Counting Backwards] promises to be a devastating and beautiful read.”
—Lit Hub

Praise for Binnie Kirshenbaum

“Champagne—the driest, with giddy pinpoint bubbles—to accompany death row's last meal.”
—The New York Times

“Kirshenbaum's barrage of wit in both expository prose and dialogue has the reader in a titter while contemplating issues of recrimination and forgiveness.”
—Philadelphia Inquirer

“[Her characters are] deeply, even ludicrously flawed, but they’re not figures of fun because they all carry the existential burden of loneliness . . . funny and compassionate.”
—Washington Post

“A refreshingly gimlet-eyed examination of memory, one that cuts through the gauzy layers imposed by time.”
—Time Out New York

“A reality check, sobering truths about family, regret, loss, history . . . Just about the only thing she doesn’t serve up is a happy ending.”
—Daily Beast

“The cinematic, effortlessly beautiful descriptions will spark the reader's imagination.”
—Chicago Tribune

“Lyrical and prosaic, laced with sardonic wit, often hilarious, yet filled with an overwhelming sadness.”
—The Review of Contemporary Fiction

“Kirshenbaum refuses to corral what is funny or sad into separate camps, but allows one to flip over into the other, creating unexpectedly poignant effects . . . A litany of longing, at once unsettling and deeply moving.”
—San Francisco Review of Books

“Binnie Kirshenbaum is a rare and remarkable writer.”
—Michael Cunningham, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Hours

“Binnie Kirshenbaum is a fearlessly unsentimental storyteller, a gifted comic writer and a thoughtful archaeologist of family life.”
—Gary Shteyngart, New York Times bestselling author of Super Sad True Love Story

“Bitter truths [are] rendered palatable by the delicious sauciness of Kirshenbaum's prose.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“Writing swift, pointed chapters . . . Kirshenbaum offers hilarious and sage advice in the battle of the sexes. Readers anxious for an entertaining female character to emulate, if only in their fantasies, will find themselves in good company.”
—People

“Kirshenbaum has an original voice and, even better, an original sensibility.”
—Los Angeles Times