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The Beauty of Dusk

The Beauty of Dusk

by Frank Bruni

Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster ·2022 ·306 pages
Near the Top
Near the Top
I Index
54/99
Maybe Someday

46/99

Critics' Rating Index

Near the Top

62/99

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About This Book

From New York Times columnist and bestselling author Frank Bruni comes a wise and moving memoir about aging, affliction, and optimism after partially losing his eyesight. One morning in late 2017, New York Times columnist Frank Bruni woke up with strangely blurred vision. He wondered at first if some goo or gunk had worked its way into his right eye. But this was no fleeting annoyance, no fixable inconvenience. Overnight, a rare stroke had cut off blood to one of his optic nerves, rendering him functionally blind in that eye—forever. And he soon learned from doctors that the same disorder could ravage his left eye, too. He could lose his sight altogether. In The Beauty of Dusk , Bruni hauntingly recounts his adjustment to this daunting reality, a medical and spiritual odyssey that involved not only reappraising his own priorities but also reaching out to, and gathering wisdom from, longtime friends and new acquaintances who had navigated their own traumas and afflictions. The result is a poignant, probing, and ultimately uplifting examination of the limits that all of us inevitably encounter, the lenses through which we choose to evaluate them and the tools we have for perseverance. Bruni's world blurred in one sense, as he experienced his first real inklings that the day isn't forever and that light inexorably fades, but sharpened in another. Confronting unexpected hardship, he felt more blessed than ever before. There was vision lost. There was also vision found.


Reviews

"But this book is a welcome reminder, despite the inevitability of dusk in each person's life, of how 'enriching and beautiful that dusk can be' when one examines it closely."

Michael Magras· Shelf Awareness Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Everywhere he perceives gratitude, optimism, hope, and courage in his interviewees, leading to a shift within himself to compassion and appreciation."

Candace Smith· Booklist Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"My favorite chapter in this book is the one about Bruni's dog ..."

Steven Petrow· The Washington Post Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Smartly mixing memoir and cultural criticism, this movingly speaks to an entire generation."

Publishers Weekly Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Although it can sometimes read more like a long column than a memoir, Bruni's optimistic book will be a balm to many."

Barrie Olmstead· Library Journal Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Some of his account of how he dealt with this infirmity is intriguing, and some feels like sentimental, self-help happy talk gone off the deep end ..."

Kirkus Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"He refuses to back down from life's demands and joys ..."

Min Jin Lee· The New York Times Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

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