The Beauty of Dusk, by Frank Bruni

Some of you may ask, “Who is Frank Bruni”? Frank Bruni is a contributing Opinion writer for the New York Times. He is also known for his best selling book Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be. This book was written for high school students and their parents in an attempt to deconstruct the college admissions process. It’s too bad some well-known celebrities didn’t read the book before bribing certain officials at certain colleges!! The book was published in 2017. It really is a must-read for families with teens, especially those who fret unneccesarily over choosing and getting into the exact ‘right’ college. Too much hype, says Bruni.

If you have followed Frank Bruni’s columns or subscribed to his newsletter, you know that he anguished over coming ‘out’ to his father, who, by the way, accepted it all with love and wisdom. Bruni has suffered body image problems due to an over-active love of food and was at one time a restaurant critic. You will have also followed the writer’s adoption of his dog Regan. Bruni’s recent stroke, which damaged an optic nerve, caused him to become blind in one eye and develop a condition that could lead to more vision loss. He recently left a full-time job at the NYTimes to move to Chapel Hill, NC for a teaching position at Duke University.

His memoir, The Beauty of Dusk: On Vision Lost and Found, is about how Bruni’s vision loss ironically led to greater clarity in his life. Not one to read this type of book, I will definitely put it on my ‘to read’ list. I not only like what Bruni has to say, but I also like his writing. And, if the reviews can be trusted, The Beauty of Dusk in not a ‘downer’. In addition to Bruni’s own situation, the book also features stories about other people who have faced obstacles with an attitude of resilience and a capacity for change. Who could not relate? “My world blurred, but it also sharpened.”