cover image Heart: A Memoir

Heart: A Memoir

Lance Morrow. Warner Books, $22.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-446-51870-3

Morrow, renowned essayist and cover-story writer for Time magazine, has crafted a darkly haunting memoir about his heart attacks--the first when he was 36, the second at 53--and their effect on his physical, mental, emotional and spiritual life. He describes the attacks in excruciating detail and explains how they were treated medically and how they changed his behavior and outlook. He discusses his struggle to overcome anger and explains why travel is ``the sovereign remedy''; then he recalls journeys to places often associated with anger: Hiroshima, Sarajevo, the Gaza Strip. He recalls his reaction to his father's death and to the deaths of friends and acquaintances, then asks some heavy questions: Is death evil? What makes a person want to live? This memoir courageously exposes Morrow's heart both literally and figuratively. Morrow (Fishing in the Tiber) is senior editor and essayist at Time. (Sept.)