Readings in radical psychiatry Book

This is a sad tale of the final days of a talented star who had a fascinating career, and a chaotic life. The writer, Peter Turner, was a friend and ex-lover who didn't understand why Grahame had pushed him away, at the time, not knowing that she was sick with cancer. She re-enters his life a couple of years later, when she is in the UK working and he is back in Liverpool, temporarily living at his parents home and acting in a theatrical play.

What disturbs me about the book is how self-centered the writer is. Grahame's illness, and last weeks of life are told by Turner, who seems so distressed and inconvenienced by how her imminent death is affecting him, and his family. He can't seem to get it together enough to be a friend and companion to someone he cared deeply about. She is on her deathbed, and he is leaving most of the work and details to his mother and brother and sister-in-law. He continues in his play, and avoids coming home one evening because he just needs a break, leaving his mother to stay up most of the night caring for the sick lady. He is not sensitive or thoughtful or strong for Grahame.
Of course it is emotional and trying and strange to have someone famous dying in your home, but everyone (excluding his father) handles the trauma far better than he--- including the dying woman herself. One of his crazier contributions to the situation is to give a bottle of gin as a gift to the last-minute nurse he finds to care for Grahame-- guess what? The nurse gets drunk. Who could have predicted that?

It's a short story that is stretched very thin, with odd descriptions of scenery thrown in to fill it in.

Turner constantly describes her as not looking like a star, or sickly looking, or messy!! Who wouldn't be if you were in constant pain from cancer and unable to eat? Her body is shutting down, and she goes through terrible agony and symptoms. It's as if he can't get past the idea that his lover, the star, should be beautiful at every minute.

Peter just comes across as naive, selfish, and ultimately manipulative of the entire situation, since he profits from this very personal story. I think Peter is genuinely sad for her, but he allows his trauma and sadness to outweigh the fact that it is her story, her death. His telling is not poignant, touching, revealing, nor inspiring. It feels contrived and exploitative, without any redeeming point. The idea of the book - the death of a star in an ordinary household- is not inherintly flawed; the problem comes from the fact that it is told from the viewpoint of someone who is more concerned about his own discomforts and problems in these few weeks, than with caring for a close friend.

Gloria Grahame worked with many of the greats of Hollywood and had an amazing talent and appeal. Her career is something to be proud of, filled with strong characters and important roles, on stage and in film*; she was a mother, and has a fascinating life story; she deserves better treatment than a lengthy, and exploitative description of her appearance and symptoms in her tragic last days.


*It's a Wonderful Life, The Big Heat, In a Lonely Place, Oklahoma, ....