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    Phoning Home: Essays
    Phoning Home: Essays
    Phoning Home: Essays
    Ebook167 pages3 hours

    Phoning Home: Essays

    By Jacob M. Appel

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Phoning Home is a collection of entertaining and thought-provoking essays featuring the author's quirky family, his Jewish heritage, and his New York City upbringing. Jacob M. Appel's recollections and insights, informed and filtered by his advanced degrees in medicine, law, and ethics, not only inspire nostalgic feelings but also offer insight into contemporary medical and ethical issues.

    At times sardonic and at others self-deprecating, Appel lays bare the most private aspects of his emotional life. "We'd just visited my grandaunt in Miami Beach, the last time we would ever see her. I had my two travel companions, Fat and Thin, securely buckled into the backseat of my mother's foul-tempered Dodge Dart," writes Appel of his family vacation with his two favorite rubber cat toys. Shortly thereafter Fat and Thin were lost forever—beginning, when Appel was just six years old, what he calls his "private apocalypse."

    Both erudite and full-hearted, Appel recounts storylines ranging from a bout of unrequited love gone awry to the poignant romance of his grandparents. We learn of the crank phone calls he made to his own family, the conspicuous absence of Jell-O at his grandaunt's house, and family secrets long believed buried. The stories capture the author's distinctive voice—a blend of a physician's compassion and an ethicist's constant questioning.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherUniversity of South Carolina Press
    Release dateMay 15, 2014
    ISBN9781611173727
    Phoning Home: Essays
    Author

    Jacob M. Appel

    Jacob M. Appel is the author of many novels and short story collections including The Man Who Wouldn’t Stand Up, Scouting for the Reaper, Phoning Home, Einstein’s Beach House, and Millard Salter’s Last Day. His short fiction has appeared in many literary journals including Agni, Colorado Review, Gettysburg Review, and more. His prose has won many awards including the Boston Review Short Fiction Competition and the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Award. His stories have also been shortlisted for the O. Henry Award and the Best American Short Stories. He has taught most recently at Brown University, at the Gotham Writers’ Workshop in New York City, and at Yeshiva College, where he was the writer-in-residence. His essays have appeared in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Detroit Free Press, Orlando Sentinel, The Providence Journal, and many regional newspapers.

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    Reviews for Phoning Home

    4/5

    38 ratings12 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I received this from a giveaway as an e-book. I had never read books that were in format of essay and at first I was skeptical, but after the first essay the skepticism fled and was replaced with interest.

      Hearing the word 'essay' did not inspire much interest in me because I still remember the long hours I had spent in school to finish the assigned essays and the multiple times I had to re-write them to get them just right, however Jacob M Appeal has changed my opinion about essays and the information they can contain, now when I think of essays the word 'boring' no longer comes into my mind.
      But that is only my opinion, you might disagree with me completely.
    • 1/5
      I decided to read these essays because Appel definitely is a talented writer, but I found this torture to get through. A few essays were okay, but there wasn't one in there that made me think 'hey, I'm glad I read this book'.
    • 3/5
      Some interesting stories here but I was kind of bleh with it. I got the book free from a Goodreads First Reads giveaway and I am grateful that I had the chance to read it, but I wasn't blown away or anything.

      Yes there are some interesting stories about his Jewish family here. Stories about people being selfish and not making sacrifices. Stories that don't make the news about every day people doing what they do.

      There are stories about his patients, names changed of course. And whatever. I read the book a little at a time and I still ended up just feeling like "okay, I'm done." Nothing amazing. It's a book.
    • 5/5
      Fabulous collection of essays that balances humor and difficult topics beautifully. The essays are filled with insight and stick with you long after you've read them. I actually struggled to *not* read the book so quickly, so that I would have time to savor the thoughts of each essay, but I enjoyed it so much that I couldn't put the book down.

      The organization of the essays loosely follows the author's life, starting with a simpler time, when crank calls and lost toys were the basis for his biggest anxieties. While on the surface these things may seem trivial, the author intuits some deeper truths about himself from these events. Moving on to discussions about grandparents, their pasts and deaths, and how we are formed by those who bring us into the world, the author then starts to turn his gaze to himself and his adult anxieties (personal health concerns, unrequited love). The last few essays of the book get into some heavy topics, mainly centered around death and how we choose (or should have the choice) to die. His compassion comes through with each subject, particularly the elderly in his care who are struggling at the end of their lives. Lots of things to think about, especially when you have just passed your "half life" as I have.

      On a personal note, Appel's explanation of the ApoE gene variants was the most straight-forward I've come across and had me checking the results of my own genetic tests I had done awhile back. So I now know exactly what my ApoE results are (rather than just the percentages the dumbed-down summary gave).
    • 5/5
      (Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)Jacob M. Appel's Phoning Home is the type of essay collection I really love, which made it a welcome sight when arriving in my mailbox earlier this year. A doctor, lawyer, and ethics professor based out of New York, as well as a veteran fiction writer (both of novels and short stories) and a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, he puts all of these experiences to good use in this newest book, penning personal yet analytical non-fiction pieces on such varied subjects as his Jewish upbringing, the morality of playing pranks, and a lot more, combining the flair and style of a creative writer with the fastidiousness and attention to detail that you would expect from such an academe. Always entertaining while often also being quite thought-provoking, this is a book for those who like their literature smart, compelling, yet not too terribly dense, and it comes enthusiastically recommended today for a general audience, and especially those interested in Jewish-American history and the practical complications of theoretical ethical decisions.Out of 10: 9.3
    • 5/5
      The author gives us some delightful insight into his own life from childhood to the realization of his own mortality. The childhood stories reminded me of my own misdeeds as a youngster. I will never look at green jello the same ever again! I was especially intrigued by the discussions of moral/ethical issues which really made me think about my beliefs and why I feel the way I do. Is it just because it's what I've been told, or can I rationally defend my position. The medical stories bring such a peek into a doctor's relationships with his patients and how sometimes the choice regarding the patient's care is not very clear cut.Overall, I thought his was an amazing collection of short stories and well worth the read.I won this book from LT Member Giveaway in exchange for an honest review.
    • 4/5
      This was a great series of essays concerning many aspects of life that I feel, for anyone interested in good non-fiction or the form, will find pleasure and lasting presence with. This is good writing, with a mix of storytelling and a resounding pickup from the mid-point all the way to the finish. I think readers, and buyers, will be pleased with this.4.25 stars!
    • 4/5
      This is a great collection of stories. Well written, interesting, funny. Having read a few books from the author before, i can honestly say that this one was - if not the best - one of the best from him i've read.
    • 3/5
      This wasn't too bad. Even though there were two stories that I didn't care for, the rest were good and interesting. Here is a review for each of the stories:Phoning Home - Wonderful story about how he pranked his parents by calling their home phone and it also had a good morale at the end.Two Cats, Fat and Thin - Awww such a sweet and sad story. So he lost his two toy cats in St. Augustine while vacationing and how he came to cope with it as a boy and as an adult. Bittersweet.Mr. Odd and Mr. Even - Jacob's story about his two grandfathers, who couldn't be more opposite. Great story with history and very touching.The Man who was not My Grandfather - Interesting story about Mr. Appel's grandmother and who she was originally supposed to marry before she married his grandfather. Bittersweet ending.Caesura - Antwerp, 1938 - Lovely story about Mr. Appel's grandparents again. Different stories but still very interesting historically and personally to the author. Sweet ending.Sudden Death - A Eulogy - A story whether it is preferable to drop dead or to grow old and die a death slowly. Interesting takes on both sides. Scary to think of but all of it absolutely true.An Absence of Jello - At first, I thought oh this was going to be an interesting story about Alzheimers... nope full of medical information that I really didn't need to know. My least favorite story and had to skip 90% of it.She Loves Me Not - Jacob's story of unrequited love. It was cute and weird in a good way. Opened myeyes how some people love one sided throughout most of their life. Loved the ending.Opting Out - Story about not disclosing to a patient that they are dying of cancer so they don't lose their will to live. Interesting theories to this statement and a very thoughtful ending.Charming and Devoted - Story about Jacob's two elderly patients while he was interning at the hospital. Sad in a way but also learned a lot. Good ending.Livery - Story about an elderly man who winds up in a psych ward due to spraining his ankle. Jacob tries everything to get him back home. Good story.Our Incredible Shrinking Discourse - At first the story was interesting, Mr. Appel getting threats based on his articles but then I had to scroll through the rest about ethics. Sorry I lost interest and couldn't finish reading the story.Divided Expectations - Story about what age is considered half life and the ever gnawing question of what is the life expectancy of a human these days. Interesting.
    • 4/5
      Love the natural way these stories read. Funny, touching and sometimes uncomfortable, but overall a good read.
    • 4/5
      Have you ever found yourself smiling like a weirdo into space while contemplating a book you’ve just read? That’s how I found myself after finishing the essays in Phoning Home.With a clear, educated and often witty voice Appel sets his thought provoking essays in a quasi-autobiographical context that encourages the reader to contemplate ethical and moral situations that have greatly impacted his life. Appel’s ability to reminisce and reflect on past moments of his life with honesty and a retrospective maturity is fascinating to read. These essays forced me (willingly!) to consider my own experiences and relations to the moral and ethical topics covered. While the essays are thought provoking, they also showcase Appel’s strength in being able to tackle controversial topics in an honest, open-minded way that draws in the reader’s attention, encouraging them to draw their own conclusions regarding the topic. The notion that our opinions are based upon established beliefs was eye opening for me. While It seems obvious, I was not aware of just how much my past experiences, as well as social and cultural influences, had an impact upon my perspective in the world. The culmination of these essays encouraged me to have a more open-minded contemplation of my opinions and the influences behind them. I thoroughly enjoyed Phoning Home and will definitely be reading more by Appel in the near future.
    • 5/5
      In PHONING HOME, author Jacob M. Appel uses his skills as a physician, attorney, and bioethicist when he present thirteen essays dealing with things as diverse as childhood memories and end-of-life decisions. They are all well-written and invite the reader to consider the ideas and, often, relate to them.The first part of the book is drawn from his childhood. He recounts a two-month spree of crank telephone calls when he was seven years old. The caller never said anything but his mother thought she knew who was placing the calls and encouraged the dialer to respond to her gracious inquires. It didn’t work. They stopped when his parents paid to have their telephone number changed. Appel then discusses how the caller (it turned out to be a child) would be treated now through psychiatric intervention. In reality, there were no mental problems involved and the child grew up to be a normal, functioning adult.Another essay is about his prized possessions, two miniature rubber cats. He carried them everywhere. One day, while he and his parents were traveling, he left them in the room when they went out. When they returned, the cats were gone. He was profoundly upset, but his mother’s reaction was not what most parents would have done.Appel writes about his family–parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles–and talks about one aunt who always whispered to him that would give him green Jell-o for dessert, if he behaved. He never received the Jell-o. The latter part of the book is about life and death and today’s culture. The advances in medical care has created a huge transformation in how we live. A close call often wakes us up to seriously consider how we want to live the rest of our lives. In earlier times, lives were shorter and considering how we lived was routine. Today, with life saving intervention, sudden death is less frequent. “Whether these changes are beneficial or deleterious, they are likely irreversible–at least by rational planning.” I have served as a volunteer guardian for about a dozen people and, part of my responsibilities is making end-of-life decisions for them. In many cases, I know what the person wants so I can carry out their wishes. But there are times that is not possible. It was during one of those episodes that I attended a workshop on end-of-life decisions in the Jewish tradition. One of the rabbis said, “Prolonging life is a mitzvah (basically a good thing to do). Prolonging death is not.” That has been a wonderful guide.And another chapter is extremely relevant in today’s political atmosphere. Our intellectual discourse is contracting. We’re not as open to hearing opinions with which we don’t already agree. Universities, once a source of hearing conflicting ideas and analyzing them to make up our own minds, are now the site of protests that prevent people with different opinions to even speak. Too many people think ideas are dangerous. Previously, the principle was“If philosophies and ideologies compete freely, the most worthy thoughts will gain acceptance.” Take away words and you take away ideas. That is one reason that the writings of courts, Congressional records, and, even earlier, the Mishnah and Talmud in the Jewish faith, which recorded all discourse of a discussion, are invaluable records showing how decisions were made. When the situation changed, some of those losing arguments became the basis for different results.This is the second book by Jacob Appel that I have read. (The first was THE MAN WHO WOULDN’T STAND UP.) It will not be the last.I received a copy of this book from Goodreads.

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    Phoning Home - Jacob M. Appel

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