In a Memoir State of Mind

When Eddie Ndopu learns that he’s just received a full ride to Oxford, he feels elated. Finally, all of his work advocating for disabled people around the world has paid off. But when he contacts the university about covering his accommodations for his disability, they refuse to cover the cost of his caregiver. Ndopu describes the never-ending logistics and financial emergencies he experiences attending Oxford as someone with spinal muscular atrophy. Despite Oxford being one of the richest and oldest universities in the world, they still claimed, over and over again, not to be able to afford his care. Ndopu nevertheless pushes through, fighting not just for himself but for all disabled people who asked for equitable accommodations.

Australian author Cory Taylor is told that there is nothing the doctors can do. She is going to die. After two years of battling cancer, she expected this, but she still finds herself emotionally reeling from the news. Dying is her last testament, her thoughts, feelings, and experiences of going about the business of dying. Taylor finds herself often wandering through her memories of her childhood, thinking of all of the decisions that led to her current life. What would have happened if she made a different decision? Would she still be dying from a fatal illness? A beautiful ode to life and living, Dying is a memoir readers won’t soon forget.