Salt in My Soul: an Unfinished Life
| Author | Mallory Smith |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Penguin Random House |
Publication date | March 12, 2019 |
| Pages | 320 |
| ISBN | 9781984855428 Search this book on  . |
Salt in My Soul: an Unfinished Life is a memoir written by Mallory Smith and posthumously edited and published at her direction by her mother, writer/publicist Diane Shader Smith.[1][2] through Spiegel and Grau of Penguin Random House on March 12, 2019,[1][2] It was optioned for production before publication by The Invisible War and The Hunting Ground Oscar-nominated directors Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering.[2]
Background information[edit]
The collected work is written from the perspective of an individual with a chronic, terminal illness, cystic fibrosis.[1][3] Smith was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at age 3, in 1995,[3][4][5] and began writing the book as diary entries between ages 15 and 25.[1] Her philosophy, contained within the work, is considered noteworthy by the cystic fibrosis community due to her determination to live with joy while fighting to survive a typically terminal disease. The disease prognosis is physical deterioration through the inhibition oxygen and nutrient absorption,[4] requiring a difficult medical regimen of hundreds of pills weekly and round-the-clock antibiotic IV treatments[6] which can consume the rest of daily life.[3] The mechanism of illness affects salt in cellular mucus membranes,[7] causing thin membranes to become thick.[8] Salt to leaches onto the skin and salty mucus collects in the lungs,[3][9] reflected by work's title, "Salt in My Soul." This excessive mucus is quickly colonized by bacteria, which begin the onset of terminal conditions.[3][10] The beginning of the work coincided with bacterial colonization Smith's lungs by a rare superbug with no known treatment.[11]
Content[edit]
The work shares thoughts, observations, and feelings Smith felt were too personal to share during her life but she hoped would encourage empathy towards chronic illness,[1] including a first-hand, nuanced tale of illness and treatment.[3] The prose exhibits a direct look at life with a crippling, terminal illness, offering self-deprecating humor, philosophizing, and deep insights as well as meditations on life and love.[12] The result is a portrait of an individual refusing to be defined by suffering and an early death instead choosing to live as fully and happily as possible while calling readers to do the same.[1][3]
Reception[edit]
The Los Angeles Times called the work "heart-wrenching," noting the transition from driven teen to optimistic woman desiring to benefit and challenge others.[3]
The work has been called "brilliant" and "radically optimistic" by Beck Dorey-Stein, who lauded the work's poignant humanity and the author's firecracker spirit.[1]
Will Schwalbe noted the candid view of life with chronic illness contrasted with the normal but "deeply moving" desires of a young woman.[1]
Eric Lax praised the author's "grit" and will to live life to its fullest in the midst of chronic illness, while calling the memoir "beautiful, brave, unsparingly insightful."[1]
Randi Hutter Epstein praised the work's "brutal honesty" and the author's valiant and "vivacious" spirit.
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 "Salt in My Soul By Mallory Smith". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Siegel, Tatiana (19 February 2019). "'Hunting Ground' Directors to Make Film Based on Memoir of Cystic Fibrosis Victim". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Abcarian, Robin. "A memoir unlike any you've read: A young woman's inspiring struggle with her invisible killer". latimes.com. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Gardner, Karen (20 September 2017). "CF Patient, Recovering from Double Transplant, Inspires 'Lunges4Lungs' Fundraiser". Cystic Fibrosis New Today. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
- ↑ "Beverly High Graduate, Cystic Fibrosis Advocate Mallory Smith Dies At 25". Beverly Hills Courier. 16 November 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
- ↑ Harward, Jason (13 December 2017). "Facing mortality: a young woman's lifelong battle with illness". HS Insider Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
- ↑ Buckingham, Lela (2012). Molecular diagnostics fundamentals, methods, and clinical applications (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Co. p. 351. ISBN 978-0-8036-2975-2. Archived from the original on 2017-09-08. Unknown parameter
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- ↑ Yankaskas JR, Marshall BC, Sufian B, Simon RH, Rodman D (2004). "Cystic fibrosis adult care consensus conference report". Chest. 125 (90010): 1–39. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.562.1904. doi:10.1378/chest.125.1_suppl.1S. PMID 14734689.
- ↑ Rowe SM, Miller S, Sorscher EJ (May 2005). "Cystic fibrosis". The New England Journal of Medicine. 352 (19): 1992–2001. doi:10.1056/NEJMra043184. PMID 15888700.
- ↑ Saiman L (2004). "Microbiology of early CF lung disease". Paediatric Respiratory Reviews. 5 (Suppl A): S367–69. doi:10.1016/S1526-0542(04)90065-6. PMID 14980298.
- ↑ Boodman, Eric (12 November 2017). "To save a young woman besieged by superbugs, scientists hunt a killer virus". PBS. NewsHour Productions LLC. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
- ↑ Foster, Christine (20 March 2018). "Farewells: Young Alumna and Writer". Stanford Magazine. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
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