The Distinguished Guest

The Distinguished Guest was my first, no doubt too long in coming, dip into the work of bestselling author, Sue Miller. Within the first few pages, indeed, first few lines, I had to wonder what had taken me so long to make this discovery for myself. Here was a literary talent, wide and deep, for the discerning reader. The pages turned if not with great speed, then certainly relish, in the manner that one approaches a gourmet meal rather than a buffet. The novel centers around aging writer, Lily Maynard, having achieved literary fame in her 70s with her frank memoirs of a failed marriage to a priest, along with riveting fiction that explored racial issues. Lily has Parkinson's disease, and we witness how her faculties fail her as her short but bright writing career comes to an end. Her memory no longer holds the threads of plot and storyline, her mind wanders, her hands can no longer hold a pen. She takes up residence at her son's home, what is to be a temporary stay while awaiting an opening at a nursing home, but becomes her final residence. We learn about her through her interactions, strained as they can be, with her son and daughter-in-law, through an on-going interview with a journalist, and various other characters, casual or scholarly, that come in and out of her life in her final days. All of which are fascinating, and Miller here shows herself to be a master of walking the literary tightrope with admirable balance. Never too much, never too little, always dead center, straight up and on target. Miller understands the concept of "less is more" and uses it to best advantage. Some of Miller's best writing, in fact, I found to be her voice coming through Lily's: "In those summer Sundays of our new marriage, I could sometimes experience the hour or so in church as a kind of drug, a near-aphrodisiac really. All my senses were dilated by it, by the gradual and powerful accumulation of layers of physical awareness combined with my own spiritual hunger, my greed, really. The Midwest heat outside was always intense by eleven o'clock, and the dark little church was cool and damp by contrast. When you entered the doors, there was a long, dizzying moment of welcome blindness, accompanied, for me, by a near-sexual weakening in my legs. The air inside smelled deliciously of mildew, a mushroomy, earthy odor that changed slowly as the space filled up with people... "I always arrived early because I couldn't bear the idea of the eyes of the congregation on me as I walked to my place alone. The young minister's new wife..." Miller guides us with expertise to see the subtle nuances of young growing old, of the slow and frustrating, almost shameful, ravages of disease, of the disconnect between family members, of the limitations of pride, and the sly cruelties between mother and son, and those, too, between husband and wife. Here is family like most families, with truths being hidden and half-hidden, games played and unwound, mild flirtations that hin

Sue Miller's THE DISTINGUISHED GUEST is an immensely readable, sensitive, yet honest portrait of a fiercely independent, proud and intelligent woman stricken with Perkinson's disease. It is also a story of relationships within her family. Circumstances have brought her to live with her son and his wife 'for just a short while' -- her presence there triggers memories and emotions that have been allowed to lie comfortably dormant for years, bringing them to the forefront of several of the characters' minds, forcing them to reassess many things they had considered to be 'etched in stone'.Lily Maynard, the 'distinguished guest' of the title, has become a bit of a literary celebrity late in life -- her memoirs were published to wide acclaim when she was seventy-two. She takes this gentle, respectful attention in both hands, relishing it and the opportunity it gives her to speak out and have some influence on her world. Her pronouncements alternately intrigue, delight and rankle those around her. As the disease progresses, and her grip on her faculties becomes more tenuous, she is forced to reassess both her life and the motives behind her writing -- how much of what she is telling is true, how much is creatively enhanced (and to what ends)? What is she really trying to accomplish?Her presence in the household brings pressures to bear on other family members as well. They are there to stand by her and help her when she needs it -- but they are also seeing her as they have never seen her before. They are also seeing things in themselves and in each other that gives them both the need and the opportunity to have another look at their own lives.This is not a book with a lot of 'action' -- but it is a very rewarding read in many ways. Miller's skill at developing these characters, at allowing the reader to look at them a layer at a time, is very satisfying. Relationships between them are very human and real -- they grow and shrink, adapt and change as they progress through life. With a little reflection, this book could easily be a tool allowing us to enhance our abilities to take a good look at our own lives and values -- and we can all stand to do that from time to time.This book is entertaining on one level, but it is more than that -- there is much to be gained here, much to be savored. As tempting as it might be to read through this book in one setting, I think it is most likely the type of work that bears unhurried reflection -- and repeated reading.

This book has some of the best character development that I have read in recent years. It reminds me of classic novels, like those of Charles Dickens (such as Oliver Twist) for capturing the interior perspective of the character. Four characters receive this thorough treatment, and through their thoughts you see the tangled, complex relations that have built up around one woman's decision to leave a marriage many years before. Those who like lots of action and plot surprises will hate the book. Those who adore nuanced dialogue and story development will find this a subtle treat. The Distinguished Guest revolves around the visit by Lily Maynard, who became a literary superstar in her 70s for her memoirs of a failed marriage and her fiction about the challenges of integration in the 50s and 60s. She is suffering from Parkinson's Disease and needs help. Plans are being made for her to move into a nursing home, but there is a wait for a place. In the meantime, she is staying with her son, Alan, and his wife. The house is constantly filled with visiting writers and scholars who want to consult with and interview the famous Lily. Each character is strongly alienated from each other character based on an incomplete understanding of that character's perspective and experience. None of them make much of an attempt to bridge the communications' gaps. The book provides a useful perspective on the problems of achieving closeness among adults, and adds helpful insights into family roles.The book has an unusual and rewarding style. It shifts seamlessly among literary snippets, old letters, internal thoughts, dialogue, and visual images to provide a broad perspective on the issues. The Distinguished Guest also addresses the philosophical issue of what one's responsibility is towards fostering racial equality and integration. The book has a lot of useful observations about that issue that will be especially informative to those who missed the civil rights struggles of the 1960s and 1970s. Those perspectives launch themselves forward into providing insight for today's society. I had the pleasure of listening to the book be read in an unabridged version by Frances Cassidy. She does a marvelous job of capturing the essence of each character, their directness or wiliness, with her easy shifts in accent, pacing, and pauses. I felt like I was listening to a great one woman dramatic performance on Broadway. I suspect that the book is harder to understand without the benefit of this outstanding reading, available from Books on Tape.After you read this story, I suggest that you write a series of letters to those you care about to explain your feelings about them, and what your own motivations are in life. These disclosures can be a healing balm that soothes the chafing caused by misunderstanding your pursuit of your convictions as representing a lack of love for the person. By revealing what you meant, you can overcome negative presumptions that

I just finished the book a few hours ago and feel compelled to comment on Sue Miller's masterful writing about a person suffering from Parkinson's Disease. My dad died last September, having suffered with the disease for many years. I only wish that I had read the book while my dad was still alive. I would have spoken to him differently. (His last four years were spent in a nursing home.) Although I had read about the disease in medical books, etc., Sue Miller, in her book, gave me a much better handle of how the disease affects one suffering with it.

I was impressed by the intelligence, depth, and power of this novel. Sue Miller has succeeded here in spinning a tale that makes *real* many issues that I have struggled with personally, including dealing with an aging parent, the raw edges that inevitably surround familial relationships, the doubts that so many of us develop in midlife about ourselves, our successes and failures, and on and on. So many times as I read this book I found myself marvelling at how Wilson had captured a thought or a feeling I had experienced myself--and had thought, naively,was uniquely my own. Then there is the fine portrayal of Lily, the fiercely independent, articulate, interpersonally cold yet socially idealistic writer who struggles with her declining physical and mental capacities from Parkinson's disease. The way that Miller approaches and analyzes Lily's past and her own ruminations about the past is nothing short of masterful. Complementing the author's incisive depiction of the complex matrix of bonds and divisions that comprise an extended family, she offers insights into some of the most divisive and vexing political/social issues of our time, including the historical struggle of white Americans of good conscience to try to find a way to act rightly with respect to race relations. She never preaches, and never really takes sides when presenting this aspect of her story--but she demonstrates that she truly *understands* the various experiences, perspectives, and viewpoints that have emerged in response to this most contentious of issues. This book impressed me tremendously. I have no idea whether this is because in some objective way, Sue Miller has created here a triumphant work of literature; conversely, it may just be a matter of this being the right book at the right time for me personally. Ultimately, I guess it doesn't matter.