“Witty, clear-eyed. . . . Like the writer and neurologist Oliver Sacks, Page transforms a baffling medical case into literature. . . .This exquisite and moving memoir of a struggle to wrest meaning from tragedy will be of wide interest to readers—and essential to people with Parkinson’s. This story of a writer’s illness is also the story of a writer’s life.”
—Deborah Campbell in the Times Literary Supplement (UK)
“In This Faulty Machine is a wonder, a memoir of illness that becomes an affirmation of life and vitality. As Parkinson’s seeks to narrow, Kathy Page pushes back, resolved to fully inhabit whatever experience life offers. I read this book in awe and some of it in tears. Intelligent, thoughtful and candid, In This Faulty Machine is destined to be a classic.”
—Joan Thomas, award-winning author of Wild Hope and Five Wives
“At once intimate, wryly humorous, and informative. . . . This is a book about a transformation from well to afflicted, . . . but like the best of memoir, it also addresses more generally the human condition. . . . In This Faulty Machine is a gift [that} speaks to the fact that most of us will face illness and aging, each in our own way. We will all have to dust off our “sick person passport” to navigate Page’s metaphorical border crossing at some point in our lives.”
—Trish Bowering in The British Columbia Review
“An unflinching, beautifully detailed account of life with Parkinson’s disease. . . . This is not a story of surrender, but of survival and rediscovery. In This Faulty Machine is a moving reminder that while Parkinson’s may change you, it does not define you—and that even in the face of loss, we are never without hope or purpose.”
—Bailey Martin, Executive Director, Parkinson Wellness Projects
“A masterpiece of observation. . . . Like all truly great books, it makes us feel better about the strange, fragile humans that we are. Honest, tender, joyful, moving, In This Faulty Machine is infused with a rare kind of insight that is genuinely healing.”
—Shaena Lambert, award-winning author of Petra and Oh, My Darling
“An eye-opening, often lyrical and very funny report from that “other kingdom” of illness, from acclaimed novelist Kathy Page, an observant, wise, and honest involuntary resident, following her diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease.”
—49thShelf
“Thrust by illness into being the main character in her own medical drama, Kathy Page reflects on her life as a writer and her very existence as a human being. The self-described “former novelist” pieces together more than enough of her old creative self to turn a sow’s ear—the disease that overturned her life—into this silk purse of a memoir.”
—Elizabeth Hay, award-winning and bestselling author of All Things Consoled and Snow Road Station
“Long one of our best fiction writers, Kathy Page has now written a startling memoir, turning her lively wit and unflinching insight on a cruel twist of fate. . . . Though deeply personal, what she undergoes is universal, for hers is the struggle of everyone for life and love against the end, suddenly sped up. Bold, frank, free from self-pity, this beautifully written book is one of the wisest and most moving I have read.”
—Ronald Wright, award-winning author of A Short History of Progress and A Scientific Romance
“This wondrous memoir is less about coping with disease than a testament to living well and staying open to, and curious about, the complex, unreliable machine that is the body. . . . One of those rare books that compels you to rethink your life.”
—Caroline Adderson, award-winning author of A Way to Be Happy and A Russian Sister
“ ‘I’m no stoic,’ [Page] says, ‘but you can’t be howling all the time.’ And so she marshals her abundant gifts as a novelist—wit, curiosity and compassion, married to an exquisite command of her prose—and invites us into this profound exploration of vulnerability and possibility. A true marvel of a book.”
—John Gould, author of The End of Me and Kilter
“A candid, often darkly droll account. . . . This is not a personalized version of the classic New Parkinson’s Disease Treatment Book, nor is it a typical my-life-as-a-victim memoir… In This Faulty Machine is about the perceptions of mortality. It is not only for her fellow PWP; it is for anyone who finds themselves recalibrating their priorities as their faculties begin to fail.”
—Charlotte Gray, in the Literary Review of Canada
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