…which started the whole world reading. (Joke: see the lyrics for the Bee Gees “I Started a Joke”)
But I did recently publish a book containing many poems about Parkinson’s and five short fiction stories. So far the reactions and reviews have been highly favorable.
For example, here are some on Amazon:
Top reviews from the United States
A captivating collection, full of charged atmospherics, lyrical emotions, and searing imagery.
Living with Parkinson’s Disease, the nuances of urban gay life, and a bloody uprising of livestock against their human oppressors are among the subjects of these beguiling poems and stories.
Ballard, who blogs about his own Parkinson’s experiences, pens many sonnets and haiku about living with the ailment, offering a plangent but good-humored take on motion disorders (“A poppy’s petals / Gently fall to the soft earth. / Not me—I crash land”) and the limitations of the condition. Several short stories explore gay life in Manhattan. In “Invitations,” a narrator riding the subway is fondled—to his delight—by a younger man who then gives him an invitation to a sex club where he enjoys raunchy encounters but contracts a mild STD; months later he runs into the fondler again, who now regrets past excesses. In “Rufino,” a narrator falls in love with the title character, a Mexican American of Mayan ancestry, and wrestles with the conflicted legacy of Rufino’s Catholicism—both its homophobia and its tradition of caring for the persecuted. Ballard rounds out the collection with intriguing genre pieces. In the eerie “Weathered,” an American teacher in Asia notices an occult pattern playing out in a repeated, seemingly random confluence of bowls, swirling fluids, tunnels, and people shouting at him—which are always followed by devastating tropical storms. And in “The Turkey,” a serio-comic mashup of “The Raven” and Animal Farm, a young barnyard turkey learns of the approaching doomsday of Thanksgiving and leads the animals in revolt against Farmer Joe, wreaking havoc on humans and beasts alike and prompting bleak reflections on mortality. Ballard’s writing is infused with subtle, mysterious, open-ended meanings, but it’s always grounded in sharply observed, painfully intense physical specificity. (“I’m scared of choking,” he writes in the poem “Six Years with Parkinson’s Disease: Status Update.” “Every time I pour / A tall, cool glass of water, I’m afraid / The water will explode like a grenade.”) The result is a richly textured take on an illness and on other baffling complexities of life.
A captivating collection, full of charged atmospherics, lyrical emotions, and searing imagery.
Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers’ Favorite
Life never dishes out what we expect. Indeed, life can be brutally unfair. But we’ve been told that we’ll only get what we can handle. Bruce Ballard’s Invitations takes a look at his life as a writer with Parkinson’s disease. He was a young man when he was first diagnosed. Like Michael J. Fox, Bruce rose to the challenge and continued with his writing, managing a blog dedicated to the disease. There is no self-pity in this memoir, just brutal reality. His poems and stories depict a life well lived. A man passionate about travel, he’s visited many countries and written about his experiences. It hasn’t been easy, but, as he writes, “With this incurable disease, I find/ I have the upper hand, and that my mind,/ While losing dopamine, still works fine.”
Bruce Ballard’s book, Invitations: Fiction and Poetry From a Life of Writing, is a passionate look at a writer’s life, one who has the added burden of living with Parkinson’s disease. The collection of poems and stories is sincere and reflective, dwelling on themes of life, love, loss, death, and, of course, Parkinson’s disease. Many of the poems are sonnets, an unusual but very disciplined form of poetry that the author masters succinctly and with ease. There are also some haiku, like this one that challenges his writer’s muse: “Do these haiku slow/ My cognitive impairment?/ Let’s all write some more…” The author’s prowess with narrative is evident in his intense stories which reveal multiple levels of emotions. A poignant and engaging read.
Invitations: Fiction and Poetry From A Life of Writing will attract literary audiences interested in collections that reflect on health in general and the experience of living with Parkinson’s in particular. As such, it embraces elements of both memoir and health guide as Bruce Ballard investigates the progression of his condition in a very different way than most medical surveys. Literature readers will find the structure of the book features longer fictional pieces juxtaposed with shorter poems about Parkinsons which take the form of sonnets and haikus. Another surprise is that the collection is more about life than Parkinson’s. Readers who anticipate a survey of all facets of living with the disease will find refreshing Ballard’s focus on all facets of living life in a milieu where Parkinson’s challenges are but one aspect of these experiences. Whether he’s describing the intense experience of a visit to the sex club Elixir or exploring Parkinson’s in a dozen haikus that reflect that milieu, Ballard’s voice is alternately stark, candid, reflective, and immersive. Examples of these hard-hitting poems include: A moth fluttering / Its wings makes more noise than me / When my voice goes soft. And: After two hours at / The gym, I leave, breathe deeply, / And exhale the Moon. It should be cautioned that sometimes the sex scenes are steamy. This only lends to the attraction of a collection that explores the disparate themes of love, sex, life, and death in a manner that pulls no punches and delivers no disappointment. Libraries and readers looking for literature that operates on the thin line of memoir, philosophical reflection, life experience, and health challenges will welcome Invitations: Fiction and Poetry From A Life of Writing for both its literary backbone and its ability to serve as a thought-provoking read for individuals and book clubs alike.
D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
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As of last week, Amazon is selling the hardcover, paperback, and Kindle versions of the book. Click here to jump to Amazon.
My husband is also creating a new website just for this book. The site is still underconstruction, but you can get a sneak preview here.
Dear parkingsuns.com administrator, Your posts are always a great read.
Congratulations on the book! Wonderful reviews!
Wishing you continued success