Why has Still Alice been made then? Well, its two directors, Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, found a novel, by Lisa Genova, and they were the more struck by its potential because Glatzer was beginning to suffer from ALS, the neurogenerative disorder known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. (As readers of this column, you may say you know exactly what I mean-or thought I meant.) The thing that frightens me is being unable to finish a sentence I’ve begun. Life is easier if you are unattached, but that solitude can drive you crazy.

The fear that haunts most people is the vulnerability of being a parent-you could lose your treasure. A man walks the toxic land alone, having to survive-that is bad enough, but the dread is greater because he has his child, a boy, with him. The grip of Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road is that of order, grace, and tolerance being lost. Texas is not as interesting as that.īut we are all afraid of being lost-we always have been.

Even in Texas, the whims of politicians are more troubling than the chance of a chainsaw massacre in the backcountry, preying on lost motorists. They say, “Can you imagine the monster waiting, and watching you, in the attic, in the cellar, or in the little house down the lane? I dare you to find out.” The gotcha game is played for fun, and it teases all the real scary thoughts we have. What are you scared of? The movies love to indulge that question.

Im still alice book