The Shape That Matters: Reflections on Life in Memory Care
Language: English
Published by Spuyten Duyvil Publishing, 2026
- Softcover
- New
Seller: Revaluation Books, Exeter, United KingdomRevaluation Books
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Softcover
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Item description from seller
144 pages. 5.06x0.36x7.81 inches. In Stock.
Seller Inventory # x-1969900369
- Title
- The Shape That Matters: Reflections on Life in Memory Care
- Author
- Benedix, Beth (Author)
- Publisher
- Spuyten Duyvil Publishing
- Publication year
- 2026
- Condition
- Brand New
- Binding
- Paperback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 1969900369
- ISBN 13
- 9781969900365
- Item weight
- 0.13 kilograms
Beth Benedix shares the tender, sad and conflictual moments of everyday life on the Memory Care Unit where her mother resides. It’s a poignant welcome into a world none want to enter, although many of us will. Her plain-spoken scholarship and existential questioning is both educational and evocative. This is real life, and death, we would all be wise to embrace.
Lauri Robertson, Psychiatrist, formerly on the clinical faculty of Yale Medical School, author of When No Other Notes Are Found
An unforgettable look into the kind of place most of us are able to forget needs to exist. What happens to a once-full life when one’s memories of that life start to fall away? And who cares for us then? Benedix writes with compassion and obvious love for not only her mother, but for all of us, who will find ourselves visiting or residing in a similar room soon enough.
Greg Schwipps, Professor of English, DePauw University, author of What This River Keeps (winner of the Indiana Authors Award)
Beth Benedix is a marvelously talented and courageous writer, guiding her readers through the surreal terrain one travels loving someone as their mind transforms into new and unrecognizable phases. Benedix surprises the reader on every page, never succumbing to pity, always brightly introspective and funny. The Shape That Matters abounds with a stubborn joy and limitless love that speak to the author’s own immeasurable gifts as a writer and a human.
Amanda Uhle, Executive Director, McSweeneys, author of Destroy This House
When her mother is admitted to a memory-care unit, Beth Benedix doesn’t just visit, she sinks in. With an open heart and an Existentialist’s wit, Benedix observes the daily dramas of an intimate world where the past is present and the present defies time. Poignant and absurdist, comic and heartfelt, The Shape That Matters is a love story that explores how families and facilities can bring compassion and meaning to the end of life. A guide to living and giving, a testament to the importance of being true to oneself. A delight that strikes the heart—and remains.
Lili Wright, Professor Emerita of Creative Writing, DePauw University,
author of Learning to Float and Dancing with the Tiger
Lauri Robertson, Psychiatrist, formerly on the clinical faculty of Yale Medical School, author of When No Other Notes Are Found
An unforgettable look into the kind of place most of us are able to forget needs to exist. What happens to a once-full life when one’s memories of that life start to fall away? And who cares for us then? Benedix writes with compassion and obvious love for not only her mother, but for all of us, who will find ourselves visiting or residing in a similar room soon enough.
Greg Schwipps, Professor of English, DePauw University, author of What This River Keeps (winner of the Indiana Authors Award)
Beth Benedix is a marvelously talented and courageous writer, guiding her readers through the surreal terrain one travels loving someone as their mind transforms into new and unrecognizable phases. Benedix surprises the reader on every page, never succumbing to pity, always brightly introspective and funny. The Shape That Matters abounds with a stubborn joy and limitless love that speak to the author’s own immeasurable gifts as a writer and a human.
Amanda Uhle, Executive Director, McSweeneys, author of Destroy This House
When her mother is admitted to a memory-care unit, Beth Benedix doesn’t just visit, she sinks in. With an open heart and an Existentialist’s wit, Benedix observes the daily dramas of an intimate world where the past is present and the present defies time. Poignant and absurdist, comic and heartfelt, The Shape That Matters is a love story that explores how families and facilities can bring compassion and meaning to the end of life. A guide to living and giving, a testament to the importance of being true to oneself. A delight that strikes the heart—and remains.
Lili Wright, Professor Emerita of Creative Writing, DePauw University,
author of Learning to Float and Dancing with the Tiger
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
Beth Benedix is Professor Emerita of World Literature, Religious Studies and Community Engagement at DePauw University, and Founder of The Castle, a nonprofit organization that partners with public schools in Putnam County, IN to create a culture of high-impact, hands-on and relevant learning. A prolific writer, her most recent book, The Post-Pandemic Liberal Arts College: A Manifesto for Reinvention (co-authored with Steve Volk) has contributed to a national conversation about higher education and her third book, Ghost Writer (A Story About Telling a Holocaust Story), was named a finalist for the 2019 Next Generation Indie Awards. She recently produced an award-winning documentary, "North Putnam," with a production team that includes Dave Eggers and Joel Fendelman. Beth has two college-aged sons and lives in Greencastle, IN with her husband. Her favorite days are when she's gigging with her band, Black Market Vinyl, for which she plays keyboards.
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Revaluation Books
Exeter, United Kingdom
5-star seller
AbeBooks seller since January 6, 2003
Shipping rates from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
| Item | 7 to 14 business days | 2 to 3 business days |
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Edward Bowditch Ltd
Exstowe, Exton
Exeter, United Kingdom EX3 0PP
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