Synopses & Reviews
At age 39, Ariel Gore has everything she's always wanted: a successful writing career, a long-term partnership, a beautiful if tiny home, a daughter in college and a son in preschool. But life's happy endings don't always last. If it's not one thing, after all, it's your mother. Her name is Eve. Her epic temper tantrums have already gotten her banned from three cab companies in Portland. And she's here to announce that she's dying. Pitifully, Ariel,” she sighs. You're all I have.” Ariel doesn't want to take care of her crazy dying mother, but she knows she will. Its the right thing to do, isn't it? And, anyway, how long could it go on? Don't worry,” Eve says. If I'm ever a burden, I'll just blow my brains out.” Amidst the chaos of clowns and hospice workers, pie and too much whiskey, Ariel's own ten-year relationship begins to unravel. Darkly humorous and intimately human, The End of Eve redefines the meaning of family and everything we've ever been taught to call love.”
Review
"Ariel Gore has changed my mind twice before, on motherhood and happiness now she's stunned me thrice. This is the story of the world's most startlingly insane, beautiful mother who was supposed to die in one year but nearly killed her entire family and staff before she was through. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll need a bucket. Don't die or surrender! before you read her tale." Susie Bright, Mommy's Little Girl: Susie Bright on Sex, Motherhood, Pornography, and Cherry Pi
Review
"Dorothy Parker famously said 'there are no happy endings,' but Ariel Gore's sweet, tough, elegant account of her mother's last days is absurdly happy if happy means inhabiting life in all its mess, distress, beauty and occasional hilarity. A near-perfect gem." Karen Karbo, Julia Child Rules: Lessons on Savoring Life
Review
"The depth of insight of The End of Eve often took my breath away. Not to mention its drop-dead humor, the sadness, and the rage. Ariel Gore's memoir is in its essence a how-to book. In the face of death, our grief, how to breathe, how to be brave, how to be funny, how to be authentic. How to make it through. But most of all: tenderness how Ariel puts human tenderness on the page is an act of poetry damn close to sublime." Tom Spanbauer, In The City of Shy Hunters
Review
"Ariel Gore takes some of the heaviest life work — caring for a difficult, terminally ill parent — and somehow through her writing transforms it into a funny, interesting, moving experience. Her work is like origami in that way — capable of changing one solid thing into something entirely different, and beautiful, because of the way she looks at the world. Totally unique, and very inspiring." Corin Tucker, Sleater-Kinney
About the Author
Ariel Gore is the publisher of Hip Mama Magazine. Her books include Bluebird: Women and the New Psychology of Happiness; How to Become a Famous Writer Before You're Dead; The Traveling Death and Resurrection Show; Atlas of the Human Heart; and The Hip Mama's Survival Guide. She lives in Santa Fe, NM.
Exclusive Essay
Read an exclusive essay by Ariel Gore