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Overview
At the age of thirty-six, Lance Morrow suffered his first heart attack and bypass operation; at fifty-three, he had his second. Helpless in the face of his own mortality, Morrow became so consumed with anger that he was forced to confront the source of his torment - his own past. In Heart, Morrow recalls the unforgettable experiences that haunt him as he shifts effortlessly back and forth in time, transporting us from a hospital room in New York City to the rubble of Sarajevo to an icebound farm in upstate New York. In doing so, he delves into the nature of the human heart itself: the heart of a journalist as he is rushed through city traffic to an emergency room; the heart of a ninety-two-year-old man who wants to live out his life with dignity; the heart of a young Serb soldier who raped and killed because he "was told to"; the heart of a species that produces feasts of blood and ethnic hatred, such monuments as Bosnia and Hiroshima. A chronicle of travel, war, weariness, work, drinking, and family, Heart questions the meaning of pain, the psychological and physical scars that a heart attack leaves, as well as the challenges a recovery offers. Passionate, erudite, and relentlessly honest, this is the eloquent cry of a man's - and our world's - breaking heart.In this erudite, remarkably poignant memoir, Time magazine essayist Lance Morrow weaves scenes from his life as a father, as a husband, and as the son of two brilliant, self-absorbed journalists with those from his career as a correspondent covering some of the most dangerous places in the world.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
Morrow, renowned essayist and cover-story writer for Time magazine, has crafted a darkly haunting memoir about his heart attacks-the first when he was 36, the second at 53-and their effect on his physical, mental, emotional and spiritual life. He describes the attacks in excruciating detail and explains how they were treated medically and how they changed his behavior and outlook. He discusses his struggle to overcome anger and explains why travel is ``the sovereign remedy''; then he recalls journeys to places often associated with anger: Hiroshima, Sarajevo, the Gaza Strip. He recalls his reaction to his father's death and to the deaths of friends and acquaintances, then asks some heavy questions: Is death evil? What makes a person want to live? This memoir courageously exposes Morrow's heart both literally and figuratively. Morrow (Fishing in the Tiber) is senior editor and essayist at Time. (Sept.)Library Journal
Morrow has written an absorbing memoir that interweaves events surrounding his second heart attack and subsequent bypass surgery with events from his life as a senior writer for Time magazine. He looks at his own inner rage and sees some of the same anger in the people he has covered in the Middle East and Bosnia. This book does not give much detail about the actual subsequent attacks and surgery; it is more a chronicle of the writer's thoughts and feelings at the time and as he looks back on the events. Morrow writes with flair and passion; his evocative words are a pleasure to read. Recommended for all libraries.Rebecca Wondriska, Trinity Coll. Lib., Hartford, Ct.Brad Hooper
s a senior writer for "Time" magazine, Morrow has globe-trotted, kept unreasonable hours, and eaten and drank immoderately. And he's paid the price. At 36, he had a heart attack and underwent bypass surgery, and now, in his early fifties, he's gone through the whole process again. From his place in upstate New York, in recovery, Morrow pens a memoir underscored by the sentiment, "Not death, for now." His ruminations on past and present coronary troubles, the roles his father and mother took in who and what he became, and the places he's journeyed to for a story all coalesce into a bigger picture: an essay on the difficulty of facing one's mortality, yet, ironically, the intensification of experience that results once the grim reaper has been looked square in the face. Sobering thoughts and elevating thoughts, all packaged in gorgeous writing.Book Details
Published
September 1, 1995
Publisher
WARNER
Pages
323
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780446518703