Nina Riggs (1977–2017)

Thirty-eight-year-old Nina Riggs wrote her memoir of metastatic breast cancer in snippets and vignettes that are gently illuminating and often funny despite a tragic outcome. She’s not overtly sad here. Instead, she’s thoughtful and philosophical as she turns to the writings of Montaigne and of her great-great-great-grandfather, Ralph Waldo Emerson, to deal not only with her own treatment and mortality but also her mother’s death from myeloma and her son’s diagnosis with show more diabetes.

"So, you’re watching a cancer show?" [Nina's older son] says sheepishly. "Why would you do that?"

"I don’t know," [she says]. "I guess it makes me feel a little more normal. Plus it has really terrible writing, so it makes me laugh."

I ask a version of that question to myself ("So I’m reading a cancer memoir -- why would I do that?") and come up with a partly identical answer. It puts my own non-cancer problems in perspective ... plus it has really lovely writing, so it fills me with awe.

(Review based on an advance reading copy provided by the publisher.) show less

[b:The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying|34104392|The Bright Hour A Memoir of Living and Dying|Nina Riggs|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1507193499s/34104392.jpg|55126924] is a very personal book written by a poet and young mother diagnosed with terminal breast cancer at thirty-seven. I don't usually go for illness memoirs but this was special with the humor, irony and simply lovely writing about nature, family, dogs, and memento mori. I appreciated her references to Emerson and show more Montaigne, her depiction of her young sons, love for her husband and her folks and fellow patients, and the heaven and hell of medical treatment. show less

THE BRIGHT HOUR; a Memoir of Living and Dying by Nina Riggs is the kind of book that is difficult to read, yet so beautifully rendered that one cannot help but be committed to it till the end. I appreciated the conversational and honest writing style and the short, vignette like chapters,

Well, here I am talking about cancer and dying again. I swear it's the last of these for a good long while, guys. (I hope I don't end up eating my words.) The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying by Nina Riggs was recommended to me after reading When Breath Becomes Air because Nina's widowed husband is now dating the widow of Paul Kalinithi who wrote the aforementioned. O_O At the start of her story, Nina was 38 years old and her biggest problems centered around publishing her newest show more bit of writing and mothering her two young sons with her husband...and then Cancer rapidly derailed her life. When Nina was initially diagnosed with breast cancer her mother was fighting her own battle with an aggressive myeloma. At first, Nina's diagnosis seemed quite straightforward in comparison. Her doctor felt it was quite treatable with a mastectomy and chemo but right as her life seemed to stabilize a stabbing back pain (reminiscent of Paul Kalinithi) made itself known. This turned out to be the harbinger of Stage 4 cancer which unfortunately was not curable. To add insult to injury, her mother's cancer stopped responding to treatment and she opted to stop her treatment. Overwhelming and almost unbelievably melodramatic as this all sounds Nina chose to view each day through a positive lens. It is obvious to me that she was a special person with a whole lot of spirit. Sadly, she passed away before final publication of her book but her legacy still lives and breathes on each page of her memoir. I'm sorry we can't enjoy more writing from her in the future. 9/10 show less