Review Round-Up, What Critcs say about "My Degeneration" (Updated 4/9)

Here is a brief collection of snippets from the reviews that I have seen so far of my new memoir, "My Degeneration"

In a piece that appeared in The Alaska Dispatch News Sunday magazine,
Nancy Lord, former Writer Laureate of Alaska called "My Degeneration "an astounding work in the form of a graphic narrative that documents — in a formidable blend of intellect, emotion and humor — the experience of living with Parkinson’s."

Mike Dunham, veteran arts reporter for of The Alaska Dispatch News set the tone early, writing "Informative, poignant, funny and deeply engrossing, the 96-page full-color book is the most entertaining volume by an Alaskan author to cross my desk in some time."

"Publisher's Weekly"weighed in soon after with this: "Editorial cartoonist Dunlap-Shohl (formerly of Anchorage Daily News) takes a frank look at his battle to live with the specter of Parkinson's disease in this emotionally resonant memoir"

Next, in a surprise move, Science called it "a model of how to fill a particular niche" in a double review with another book from Penn State's "Graphic Medicine" series, Aneurin Wright's "Things to Do in a Retirement Home Trailer Park When You're Twenty nine and Unemployed."

Reviewers on Amazon have been exceedingly kind. Out of 14 reviews so far, all (even the one from my cousin Jon) have awarded "My  Degeneration" five out of five stars. Comments from Amazon reviewers include :

***** "It must become one of the first things a physician gives a newly diagnosed patient to read. It's that good."

***** "This book blew me away."

***** "It is devastating yet fascinating. A must read."

***** "This is a beautiful book"

***** "I will keep this book in my office and read it and re-read it as well as recommend it to everyone I know."

***** "It is impossible to over-praise this book's importance in placing this despicable disease in context and/or for it's clarity of explanatory information


***** "I think we would have to go back to Oliver Sacks' "Awakenings" to find an investigation of PD with similar investigative prowess and narrative power."

In a starred review, Library Journal really liked the art (I think) "His deliberately scrabbly brown/green art—now done on computer, owing to motor control issues—fittingly captures his ten years of PD–invaded life as well as his wildly imaginative visions of punching out a personified Parkinson’s, visits from a “spandex angel” who preaches physical fitness, and how coping with PD is akin to fighting Moby Dick.   

The Brooklyn Rail reviewed  the book as part of a package with other volumes in the Penn State Press Graphic Medicine series. Reviewer Taney Roniger remarked " In My Degeneration, ... Peter Dunlap-Shohl’s beautifully moving account of his journey through Parkinson’s, the disease’s harrowing and often bizarre symptoms are rendered with such warmth and wit that the reader stays intimately engaged."

Foreword Reviews  had the following take "“My Degeneration opens up a powerful new purpose for comics—as an effective tool to educate doctors, patients, and others about both the clinical and the personal sides of living with a disease. This book should be required reading for any specialist.” "