Cecilia P

Since I’m not getting any younger, I was eager to read Sue Halpern’s Can’t Remember What I Forgot: The Good News From The Front Lines of Memory Research. The second part of the title is misleading as it suggests that there is actual good news in the present. What she discovers in her years of chasing down experts, scientists, and nutritionists to gather the latest information about Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia is that there are no answers now. She is certain the good news will happen someday but no one can say when. One is left wondering why she thought a personal account of her experiences in the field would be of interest to the general public. Her writing is occasionally humorous but is more often technical and certainly not for the layman. Very disappointing.

I looked forward to reading what I thought would be a fascinating story of Nannerl Mozart's life but was disappointed in this rather sketchy, melodramatic book. It read like a romance novel with undeveloped characters and little depth. It does impart some broad general knowledge of the period but little is learned of the Mozart family's history, motivations, etc. However, the story will spark an interest in further reading and research on the topic.