Review: Phoning Home: Essays [Kindle Edition]
Jacob M. Appel has a rare gift of writing essays that do not bore me. And at the end of a long day of work... or even after a short day, I want to read something that I can enjoy. So when I find myself curled up on the couch reading a book of essays for hours upon hours, you know that it has to be not only well written, but interesting and enjoyable. All three of those adjectives apply to Phoning Home:Essays.
Starting with an essay about a phone prankster, this book follows some of the major points in Jacob's life. Though I know that he is not sharing everything with us (some of it for legal reasons, such as HIPAA regulations) you really get to see into the mind of this man as he shows us snippets of the lives around him that he touches as well as his own reactions. This novel contains essays that touch on childhood, love, death... both dying and how it affects the people around you, and the ethics of what we have done in the past as well as our current and future actions. You can certainly see Mr. Appel's bioethical background as you read these essays.
If you're looking for something to open your mind and allow you to see the world in a different view, I would recommend this novel. After reading it, I know that I will read it again at some point, and that I will continue to learn from these essays. Jacob shows us that even something as simple as fear can change how we react to objects around him, as he cleans up the glass and broken wine from his floor. The essay regarding the wine reminded me of a letter that I received from the United States Postal Office, Department of Hazardous Materials, when a jar of jam sent to me broke in transit and the Post Office refused to deliver the package because it was oozing a red liquid that could have been dangerous. If they had smelled it, they would have noticed the scent of raspberries. But fear of anything that could be a threat, bomb or chemical, leads us to overreact naturally in the quest to survive. Phoning Home walks us through that fear and helps us realize that a safety net can only do so much, and that we must all remember that at some point, we will die so we best make the most of the time we have.
NOTE: If you enjoyed my review, I would appreciate if you could mark it as being helpful on Amazon as well. I have included the link to the Amazon review in the Source section at the bottom of this review. You can also purchase the kindle edition of Phoning Home: Essays by going to http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GHT91US/?tag=shasworofboo-20
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