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The End of the Alphabet

C.S. Richardson

Discussion: November/December 2007

Discussion leader: Lisa Hickman

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November/December 2007

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao-Junot Diaz
By Jenn · 7 posts · 29 views

last updated Jul 21, 2010 07:35PM

The End of the Alphabet by C.S. Richardson
By Lisa · 5 posts · 19 views

last updated Mar 03, 2010 04:48PM

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What Members Thought

Jul 19, 2009 Wallace rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, travel

I was at the store looking for the book that I am reading right now, and this was tucked into the new release shelf. I looked at it and in that moment I knew, this novella was going to be something special.

It was. I read it in one brief sitting. It is a first-rate, tender, genuine story. I would say it is a love story, but it's not really; it's a piece of a love story-- the end piece. There are other strands woven through here and there to help the reader understand the infrastructure of the re I was at the store looking for the book that I am reading right now, and this was tucked into the new release shelf. I looked at it and in that moment I knew, this novella was going to be something special.

It was. I read it in one brief sitting. It is a first-rate, tender, genuine story. I would say it is a love story, but it's not really; it's a piece of a love story-- the end piece. There are other strands woven through here and there to help the reader understand the infrastructure of the relationship. Page 7 might be my favorite page of the entire novella. It's the description of the husband; I like him. It's easy to forget that they're not real, he and his wife. They very well could be, though, and this author has the amazing ability to bring them to life without excess fluff or filler. By the end, I knew Ambrose and Zipper (the couple), but I wanted to know more. Each time Richardson threw out a nugget letting me peak into the components of their private lives, I wanted to know more. I wanted to know who she voted for, which albums were his favorite. I wanted to know why they never had children and hear that most private, personal conversation. I just wanted to know more; all the tiny particulars that make people who they are, and help us to emulate the ones we love the most. Like the way I know exactly what my mother's skin smelled like when I was very young, and how sometimes my skin smells like that now. How I will use certain lotions because I know I will smell like her, and how that ends up connecting us even when I'm not around her. Or how my taste in music, movies, and what is cool has evolved from copying my brother because no matter how old I get, he will always be just a little bit cooler... if only because he is my big brother. The details I wanted to know were for similar purposes, to somehow see how this intimate love was created and the path it took to get where we, the readers, find it. However, nothing was left out, nothing needed anyway. The entire tale was told, and was told well; and I become fascinated. I wanted to look in their medicine cabinet only to know them better, not to find any missing pieces.

The writing is extremely subtle, and I can imagine that each reader will get something different out of it. What I got was a quality description of not only love, but what it is to be known by someone else.

Read it. You will not be sorry. ...more

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Feb 09, 2010 Lisa Hickman rated it liked it

Shelves: literary-fiction, bookmarks-2007, library-books

The End of the Alphabet was a tender, fairy tale like love story. Around his fiftieth birthday, Ambrose Zephyr and his wife Zappora (Zipper) Ashkenazi are given the news that Ambrose has only a month to live. Ambrose and Zipper decide to live out his remaining days following his childhood dream of traveling to places and things from A to Z. The story was simply written in wonderful prose. The brevity of the book aptly fits the shortness of Ambrose's life and reminds all the value of savoring spe ...more

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Feb 05, 2009 Bookmarks Magazine added it · review of another edition

A Canadian book designer, C. S. Richardson delights in the alphabet, and his infatuation with everything A-to-Z shines throughout this elegant debut novel. In clear, understated prose, Richardson has written a poignant love story, a travelogue, a tribute to the good life, and a rousing call to cherish every moment. By turns humorous, heartbreaking, and inspiring, The End of the Alphabet reminded critics more of a fairy tale than a straightforward narrative, but that did not detract from the powe

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