Every Last Breath

When Joanne Jacobson's writing about her mother'srespiratory illness was interrupted by her owndiagnosis with a rare blood disorder, she found herperspective profoundly altered. Every Last Breath followsthese two chronic illnesses as they grow unexpectedlyintertwined. Rejecting a fixed, retrospective point ofview and the forward-moving trajectory of conventionalmemoir, Jacobson brings the reader to the emotionallyraw present - where potentially fatal illness and 'end oflife' both remain, emphatically, life. As chronic illnessblurs the distinction between illness and wellness, shediscovers how a lifetime of relapse and remission caninvite transformation. Written at the fluid, unsettlingboundary between prose and poetry, these essaysoffer a narrative diagnosis of ongoing revision.