The toughest period in life occurs when we receive a serious medical diagnosis. This is a make-or-break type of situation. Nevertheless, David Goodemote's in his memoir Mirth is the Best Medicine, beautifully portrays how one can find strength and resilience in the face of adversity.
In the enchanting pages of this medical memoir, readers experience a fascinating voyage through the ebbs and flows of life, health, and happiness. The narrative revolves around the central character, David, and his whimsical companion, Mirth, who stands steadfast by his side during the unpredictable twists of medical challenges.
The memoir offers profound reflections on the unpredictable nature of life's experiences, suggesting that God plays a role - one that helps unpredictably, perhaps with a touch of humor, as indicated by the author. As readers traverse through the pages, they find themselves pondering the relation between fate and free will.
The narrator/ author is Mirth who acts as a alter ego for the author David Goodemote.
Mirth is best known as an immediate, involuntary emotional response to a joke, sarcasm, or witticism. Even though spontaneity has been a hallmark of Mirth for centuries, Mirth is much more - he is the embodiment of devil-may-care, not concerned with the consequences of ignoring accepted conventional thought and behavior.
Where medicine is involved, whenever Mirth has been needed, he has been by David's side.
While Mirth's intervention has helped David through the potential difficulties of facing tough medical problems, it undoubtedly also contributed to a lack of caution to the point of fostering feelings of near invincibility on David's part.
Mirth did such a good job of patterning David's health life to be not unlike that exhibited by Dorian Gray, that David often transported himself to a state of timeless disregard for his well-being.
Cheerfulness is a habit, while Mirth is an unannounced flash of amusement. While David can enjoy the former, he cherishes the latter. That is why Mirth was selected as his mentor very early in his life.
When David meets a new medical practitioner, the usual comment by that person is something like, "Reading your chart, I didn't expect you to look so good." David's response is, "My chart seems like I should be taking my last breath, doesn't it?"
Mirth has written this book based on his own observations and the counsel he provided to David over time. David also provided his own uncompromising views for consideration by Mirth for possible content.
