{"product_id":"victories-never-last-reading-and-caregiving-in-a-time-of-plague-hardcover","title":"Victories Never Last: Reading and Caregiving in a Time of Plague - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eRobert Zaretsky\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA timely and nuanced book that sets the author's experience as a nursing home volunteer during the pandemic alongside the wisdom of great thinkers who confronted their own plagues.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In any time of disruption or grief, many of us seek guidance in the work of great writers who endured similar circumstances. During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, historian and biographer Robert Zaretsky did the same while also working as a volunteer in a nursing home in south Texas. In \u003ci\u003eVictories Never Last \u003c\/i\u003eZaretsky weaves his reflections on the pandemic siege of his nursing home with the testimony of six writers on their own times of plague: Thucydides, Marcus Aurelius, Michel de Montaigne, Daniel Defoe, Mary Shelley, and Albert Camus, whose novel \u003ci\u003eThe Plague \u003c\/i\u003eprovides the title of this book. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Zaretsky delves into these writers to uncover lessons that can provide deeper insight into our pandemic era. At the same time, he goes beyond the literature to invoke his own experience of the tragedy that enveloped his Texas nursing home, one which first took the form of chronic loneliness and then, inevitably, the deaths of many residents whom we come to know through Zaretsky's stories. In doing so, Zaretsky shows the power of great literature to connect directly to one's own life in a different moment and time. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e For all of us still struggling to comprehend this pandemic and its toll, Zaretsky serves as a thoughtful and down-to-earth guide to the many ways we can come to know and make peace with human suffering. \u003cbr\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRobert Zaretsky\u003c\/b\u003e's books include \u003ci\u003eBoswell's Enlightenment\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eA Life Worth Living, Catherine \u0026amp; Diderot, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Subversive Simone Weil\u003c\/i\u003e, the latter also published by the University of Chicago Press. A columnist for the \u003ci\u003eJewish Daily Forward\u003c\/i\u003e, he is also a frequent contributor to the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eForeign Affairs\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Review of Books, \u003c\/i\u003e and Slate. Zaretsky lives in Houston with his wife and children. Zaretsky teaches at the University of Houston.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 208\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 x 8.6 x 5.7 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e May 05, 2022\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51766841770272,"sku":"9780226803494","price":22.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/f9aed441b1479f891af5bcee3e67f225.webp?v=1780299849","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/victories-never-last-reading-and-caregiving-in-a-time-of-plague-hardcover","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}