The Brand New Catastrophe

October 10, 2016
Scalise, who has written for the Paris Review and Agni, delivers an offbeat, witty memoir about his life after discovering that he has a brain tumor related to acromegaly, a hormone disorder that causes gigantism. Scalise is unsparing in recounting his reaction to his diagnosis (“You learn at once that you’ve been placed on a very particular spectrum of ugly”) while keeping the reader engaged in a story about catastrophe: “Focus on the oddities and ironies that would seem incredible and ridiculous in any context, not just that of your disaster.” In between descriptions of his various hospital visits and operation, he presents how his illness affected his relationships with his “universe of loved ones, friends and acquaintances, all pulled into a troubled orbit around the busted person at its core.” The most memorable characters are his girlfriend, who helps him deal with tumor-related testosterone issues, and his mother, who suffers her own chronic cardiac problems. He also looks at acromegaly in a broader social context, such as how it affected a number of Hollywood actors including André the Giant. But the heart of Scalise’s sensitive and well-written memoir is his depiction of how he dealt with his illness personally, especially the “complicated role-play” of “becoming infatuated with your own defense mechanisms.”

December 1, 2016
A devastating diagnosis throws a writer and his family into a tailspin.The crushing catastrophe at the core of Scalise's memoir is a burst pituitary tumor that occurred in 2002, when the author was just 24. The author enlivens his anecdote-driven chronicle with dispatches involving his mother, a worrisome matriarch who smokes and drinks despite a congenital heart ailment; his father, who emails pornography to him in a postoperative attempt to jump-start depleted testosterone levels; and his understanding, compassionate longtime girlfriend, Loren. Scalise's tumor, seated behind his eyes, released an increased amount of pituitary hormones into his bloodstream, which can lead to a rare condition called acromegaly, causing facial and body gigantism. In a chapter titled "Q&A," the author discusses the protocol used by physicians to assess him for symptoms, intimately detailing the numerous adverse side effects he subsequently endured throughout the months following his neurosurgery. Excessive sweating, nerve damage, sleep deprivation--all pointed to a positive diagnosis and more agony for Scalise and his family. The author's quirky sense of humor and crisp, hopeful worldview transform this memoir from dreary to fascinating and engaging even after the grueling particulars of his Gamma Knife cranial radiation procedures are laid bare. Adding substance to the story is the medical history of how acromegaly has altered the appearances of notable public figures like Andre the Giant, Tony Robbins, and Olympic skater Scott Hamilton. Combined with his thoughtful meditations on the nature of life's randomly occurring catastrophes, readers are further drawn into the author's story. There is no silver lining here, but Scalise's narrative verve and brisk prose create a winning chronicle of illness, recovery, and "courageous defiance." A frankly written debut memoir that captures all the fright of a medical calamity and the humor and grace necessary to survive it.

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December 15, 2016
In 2002, a presumably healthy 24-year-old man went to the emergency room with what he believed was a migraine. Instead, Scalise's headache was a symptom of a bleeding pituitary gland tumor in the brain. He writes about his surgery, recovery, Gamma Knife radiotherapy, injections, doctor's visits, and necessary hormone-replacement medications (Hydrocortisol, Synthroid, desmopressin, AndroGel). After the rupture of his pituitary tumor and operation, he develops hypopituitarismthe body's inability to secrete essential hormonesa condition he dubs hormonelessness. Prior to the diagnosis and treatment of the tumor, he unknowingly had acromegaly, an endocrine disorder of excess human growth hormone. Lurch of TV's The Addams Family, Jaws in James Bond movies, and wrestler Andre the Giant also had acromegaly. Scalise handles his calamity with a weird sense of humor and often nonchalance. Along the way, he gets married, works a number of different jobs, and has frequent interactions with his eccentric parents. The effect of illness on self-image and its gravitational pull on family, friends, and spouse are touchingly detailed in this upbeat health memoir.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)