Do Not Disturb by A.M. Homes, 2002
The magic trick:
Unflinching details of a cancer diagnosis
A.M. Homes a day after J.M. Holmes. The wordplay is fun; the stories are not. This one, in particular, must come with trigger warnings. It’s a deep dive into a doctor getting diagnosed with cancer and then reckoning with the treatment as her marriage is falling apart. Its detail makes it tough to read, even if you’re fortunate to not have been touched by cancer in your own life. But of course, it’s also the level of detail that makes it a remarkable piece of writing.
And that’s quite a trick on Homes’s part.
The selection:
“Should I drive you back to the city or go to the hospital out here?”
“I don’t want to be the doctor who goes to the ER with gas.”
“Fine.”
I am dressing myself, packing, thinking of what I will need in the waiting room: cell phone, notebook, pen, something to read, something to eat, my wallet, her insurance card.
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