The End of the Alphabet

The End of the Alphabet, by CS Richardson, is a poignant and haunting little tale of love, acceptance, and the unfinished business of life. I picked this novel up about a month ago and set it on one of the heaps of books that lean randomly at the foot of my bookshelves. I snatched it up yesterday morning on the way to work and fell into its charming embrace on the bus downtown. Fortunately, yesterday was a quiet day at work and I read the book straight through. It was a charming tale that captures the elusive prosaic poetry of day to day love. I was absolutely enthralled by the tale of one Ambrose Zephyr - a man in his fiftieth year who is told by his doctor that he has about thirty days to live. He resolves that very night to to spend those last thirty days on a world tour that he has been randomly planning in the back of his mind for most of his life starting with "A is for a portrait in Amsterdam" "B is for Berlin", and so on. The novel is written on fly paper and bubblegum and will stick to your fingers until you finish reading it. It is a soft surprising little fable that in the end reminds one that true love is generally a long conversation wrapped in regret and memory and echoed habit rather than a soaring operatic ode. I recommend this unforgettable little novel as a journey that will keep you guessing at every page. Steve Vernon

What a sweet and tragic little book! Ambrose has been told he has one month left to live. It is what he chooses to do with his final time that makes the novella. His relationship with his wife is core, while his little whims (like the alphabet) are periphery but still engaging. A quick read that will break your heart and inspire you to love at the same time.

This novella is beautiful & tragic & aching & heartlifting & sad & full of life & wonder. This is another stunning debut of a first-time novelist. The writing is minimalistic, before that word became overused. It recalls the best of Raymond Carver. The writing can also be clipped & terse. This is quite apropos as the book is about a life cut short. A man & a woman have had a most wonderful marriage, where each has never strayed & always thought themselves lucky to have found their mate. The man is in his Fifties. She is somewhat younger. They've probably been married somewhere between 20 to 30 years. To be so much in love & contentment with each other after all those years is quite a feat. They are both fit & healthy people. The man goes for his regular physical & is told he has one month to live. Immediately, the reader wonders what he would do with just one month to live. Apparently, it would depend on one's stage in life. This couple chooses to travel. Yes, there is a sub-plot of lists & letters. It's where the author gets his title. Also, both characters have names & even nicknames beginning with the letter Z. I read one 2 star review in which the reviewer complained there were no aha moments in this book. There was just acceptance. How can that be a negative. "Just acceptance." Wow. Being told you have one month to live is the aha moment. Learning to accept that is very powerful. Perhaps the reviewer is too young to have learned this fact? Perhaps, the reviewer has watched too much Oprah. The way this loving couple works out this devastating news & the way they come to accept it is the crux of the book. It's both a bit of a travelog for armchair travelers but it's also a travelog through confusion, despair & sadness. Perhaps, this book resonated with me because of my own personal life. My Dad died suddenly of a heart attack when he was just 56. My Mom became a widow at 51. They had a love story which might have been equaled but never superseded. My older adopted brother also died at 56. He died in his sleep. He had not been ill. I'm now 57. I've passed the deadly age of 56. I can relate to too early deaths. I can relate to the suddeness of death. I can relate to how hard it to find acceptance of the new reality of one's life. This author has done an amazing job of touching emotions. If you know anyone dealing with the too early death of a loved one, gift them this book. The book also has a very touching ending which makes a huge circle back to the beginning. It's a book to be cherished.

This small book will be one of my all time favorite reads. I can't describe this book adequately because it is one of those books that depending on where you are in your life - you will get a different meaning. Ambrose Zephyr a fiftish year old man who is suddenly diagnosed with an unnamed illness that will cause his death in 30 days. He has spontaneously decided that he will take his wife, the passion of his very simply ordered life, Zappora Ashkanazi (ZA to his AZ), also known as Zipper, on a trip that will encompass all the letters of the alphabet. As they travel the story goes back and forth from their present adventure to their life before the diagnosis and how two people can see the same thing in different ways. When the end comes, and it is inevitable, what story will Zipper have to tell.

For anyone who has experienced the love of the right person and the loss of that person, this book resonates with the depth of that loss. It was the perfect reminder of why I am so fortunate to have shared a love like Ambrose and Zipper's.