Too Soon to Say Goodbye

Starred review from October 30, 2006
"Being in the hospice didn't work out exactly as I had planned it," begins Buchwald in what may or may not be his final book. In February 2006, Buchwald was told he would need ongoing dialysis, which he promptly decided to discontinue, moving into a Washington hospice to die on his own terms. What was intended to be a three-week exit for the Pulitzer Prize-winning author turned into months of visitors, rumination and writing. The result is this hilarious, sobering and unconventional study of the issues that accompany the end of life, such as living wills and surrogates, funerals, food and even sex. As he has throughout his career, Buchwald pares down overwhelming topics into manageable steps, gently and with humor, noting that, for instance "the beauty of not dying but expecting to, is that it gives you a chance to say goodbye to everybody," and it's these goodbyes that provide Buchwald with the framework to revisit his storied career-spanning two continents, populated by global luminaries and celebrated with multiple awards. Though entertaining as a talented satirist's retrospective, it's also a valuable primer on how to meet death with bravery and grace, reminding us that "the big question we still have to ask is not where we're going, but what we were doing here in the first place."

Starred review from November 20, 2006
"Being in the hospice didn't work out exactly as I had planned it," begins Buchwald in what may or may not be his final book. In February 2006, Buchwald was told he would need ongoing dialysis, which he promptly decided to discontinue, moving into a Washington hospice to die on his own terms. What was intended to be a three-week exit for the Pulitzer Prize-winning author turned into months of visitors, rumination and writing. The result is this hilarious, sobering and unconventional study of the issues that accompany the end of life, such as living wills and surrogates, funerals, food and even sex. As he has throughout his career, Buchwald pares down overwhelming topics into manageable steps, gently and with humor, noting that, for instance "the beauty of not dying but expecting to, is that it gives you a chance to say goodbye to everybody," and it's these goodbyes that provide Buchwald with the framework to revisit his storied career-spanning two continents, populated by global luminaries and celebrated with multiple awards. Though entertaining as a talented satirist's retrospective, it's also a valuable primer on how to meet death with bravery and grace, reminding us that "the big question we still have to ask is not where we're going, but what we were doing here in the first place."

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2006
Leave it to Buchwald to have a laugh at death's expense. The longtime humorist, suffering from kidney failure, checked into a Washington, D.C., hospice in early 2006. Confounding medical prediction, he rallied; his unexpected reprieve gave him the opportunity to write one more book, and as might be expected, his short, comic vignettes are slightly morbid. Buchwald first extracts the comedic potential of his funeral arrangements. The humor revolves around Buchwald's badinage with well-wishers, with whom he discusses appointments for pallbearer, eulogist, and recessional chanteuse. Teasing readers who somehow think that a person on the brink of death has a better view of what's on the other side, Buchwald spins out the conditions he expects to find in heaven, naming who he wants there (Rita Hayworth) and who he doesn't ("the lady who hijacked my parking place"). And with mock self-centeredness, Buchwald also explains how to take advantage of the kindnesses thrust one's way in a hospice. Occasional allusions to his past, luck with the opposite sex included, will fondly remind readers of Buchwald's memoir " Leaving Home" (1993). A humorous valediction. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)