I don't know who writes publisher's blurbs to sell their books, but someone at Gallery Books has done Millard Salter's Last Day a big disservice with this one:

"In the spirit of the New York Times bestselling A Man Called Ove, this is the heartwarming story of a man who decides to end his life before he’s too old—but then begins to reconsider when he faces complications from the world around him."

The characters of Ove and Millard Salter are similar, in that they do both intend to end their lives, but the comparison ends there. I found Millard Salter's Last Day to be more thoughtful and definitely more thought-provoking. While I enjoyed A Man Called Ove, I found this book to be better written, with more vibrant and well-developed characters. Other reviewers have not been fond of Millard's reminiscences, but I think that his ramblings explained his life, his family, his career, and how he had come to think that committing suicide on his 75th birthday, before he became infirm, was a good idea and not just a whim. I also found plenty of humor, mainly the kind that makes us laugh at the ludicrousness of life. I wish I belonged to a book club as this book begs to be discussed with others. Jacob Appel has written Millard Salter's Last Day honestly and with a perfect ending, worthy of 4.5 stars.

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book.

This is a different kind of book from what I normally read which made it very appealing to me since I am always appreciative of new and different. This is the story of a 75 year old man with two previous wives, one divorced, one deceased and 3 children, who has decided to commit suicide before he becomes infirm and has to suffer some of the indignities he has seen in others in his life. The entire book is based on the day he intends to hang himself. He wants to tie up some loose ends at the NYC hospital he works at as a phychiatrist plus meet his son Lysander for lunch in order to talk to him about what he is going to do with his life, It turns out to be a very full day indeed with run ins from his bosses as well as other employees that he doesn' care for. Millard remembers many things that have happened thoughout his life as he goes throughout his day. The ending of this story seemed rather abrupt, however all in all I throughly enjoyed it and I definitely recommend it.

This book was likened to one of my all-time favorite books: A Man Called Ove. It certainly deserves a place in my shelf of eccentric old men who go on life-changing journeys. It is psychiatrist Millard Salter's birthday and the septuagenarian has decided it will be his last on Earth. Before his death he visits various people who have meant a lot to him in his life--from his son to his estranged first wife--and.... Well, if you have read Ove, you know what to expect.

There’s elegance in showing how we all eventually become both wise and irrelevant at the same time. It takes an incredible sense of humor to embrace elements of life and love while at the same time planning for death. Millard’s charm is that he embraces life as he plans for death in a practical manner. He’s doing what he thinks is right, which is all any of us can do at any point in our lives. The irony is that everyone around him is making moral decisions under the assumption that things will keep going as they have been, whereas Millard has made a decision to move on and wants to do what’s right in his final hours. This is the story of his last day and how he used the time.

Jacob M. Appel writes vibrant characters with vivid personality quirks that propel them off the page. While many reviewers compare this book to A Man Called Ove, I’d caution against that, as it sets the reader up for a different expectations and sells Millard short. Millard is his own man with his own unique story.

I give Millard Salter's Last Day 3.5 stars. Appel presents us with a very complex character as well as the thought-provoking question of do we have the right to choose how and when we die?

Salter, a psychiatrist, has decided that this day, his 75th birthday will be his last day on earth. He is not ill, he is not infirm, he is not depressed, he still is well-respected in his profession. So why does he want to commit suicide? Because he doesn't WANT to become ill, infirm, depressed; he wants to go out, as he lived, on his own terms.

Ever organized and thorough, he has the entire day planned with things he wants to do, people and places he wants to see one more time. We reminisce with him as he goes about his day, reflects on his life, and gets irritated when people inadvertently interfere with his day.

No spoiler here, but I must say the ending surprised me greatly.

Kudos to Jacob Appel for a fine read, and many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for giving me an e-copy of this book.

*2 stars, 3 stars, 4 stars. 5....oh, hell, I don't know. I have a love-hate relationship with this book. When I finished it last night, I would have sailed it across the room like a frisbee if I weren't reading it on my Kindle. That's how upset I was, how emotionally involved! This morning I realize how great this book must have been to make me care so much!

*** Spoiler Alert ***

I really liked Millard. Jacob Appel deserves 5 stars for creating such a well-rounded, complex, likable character. I enjoyed his humor, his memories, his thoughts on aging and the inevitable decline that life brings. I respect his decision but find it remarkably self-centered, especially for a renowned psychiatrist, not taking into account those who love him and the damage he would be inflicting on them with his actions. The timing is so awful. God, I'm so mad at him!

A further discussion of this book is better suited for a group setting. Highly recommend for book-clubs. I've never read anything else by Jacob Appel but look forward now to reading more; he's a fine writer.

Note to Marketing: Please don't compare this book to A Man Called Ove. It's so misleading to potential readers. The only thing they have in common is that both main characters plan to kill themselves by hanging after their wives have died. The spirit of this book is so different. As Millard himself says: "This wasn't 'It's a Wonderful Life.'"

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for granting me the opportunity to read an arc of this book.

EXCERPT: The trouble was that Millard didn't feel seventy-five. Maybe when he bent over to retrieve one of the grandkids' toys, or when carrying his fishing tackle out to the skiff, but not often. Some mornings, he honestly believed he might live another twenty years. Good years. Of course, there lay the dastardly trap. Nobody really believes in quicksand until they can't extricate their feet.

THE BLURB: In the spirit of the New York Times bestselling A Man Called Ove, this is the heartwarming story of a man who decides to end his life before he’s too old—but then begins to reconsider when he faces complications from the world around him.

In an effort to delay the frailty and isolation that comes with old age, psychiatrist Millard Salter decides to kill himself by the end of the day—but first he has to tie up some loose ends. These include a tête-à-tête with his youngest son, Lysander, who at forty-three has yet to hold down a paying job; an unscheduled rendezvous with his first wife, Carol, whom he hasn’t seen in twenty-seven years; and a brief visit to the grave of his second wife, Isabelle. Complicating this plan though is Delilah, the widow with whom he has fallen in love in the past few months. As Millard begins to wrap up his life, he confronts a lifetime of challenges during a single day—and discovers that his family has a big surprise for him as well.

MY THOUGHTS: I love Jacob Appel's writing. I love the depth of his characters, the way we get to know their little foibles, their likes and dislikes, their innermost thoughts.

And as I read, I grew to love the anti-social Millard Salter. He knows himself, warts and all. He knows he did wrong by his first wife, Carol, but even in retrospect, wouldn't change a thing. I love the love he feels for the dying Delilah, his compassion, his devotion. I love his thoughts and opinions on the people he works with. We all have people like these in our lives at some point or another. I loved his take on dealing with people who verbally 'down' you, and I loved his wit and puns.

I felt sad when the book was finished. I felt like I had lost an old friend. I am going to miss Millard Salter, but on the flip side, I can pick this book up again and go visit any time I like. And I am sure I will.

Thank you to Gallery Books via Netgalley for providing a digital copy of Millard Salter's Last Day by Jacob M Appel for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system. This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

I received this book courtesy of NetGalley and its publisher, Gallery Books.

Basically, this book is the protagonist, Millard Satler, a psychiatrist, planning his suicide. It details his actions on what the reader wonders if will be his final day. “He’d sworn to himself that he wouldn’t deviate from his usual routine. So he’d renewed his subscriptions…” As Millard goes about his day, the reader meets his family, friends and coworkers. Irony is prevalent that a psychiatrist is planning suicide when his profession is “the art of helping people to cope…”

The author is able to bring some humor into a depressing, morbid subject. The book displays the characteristics a satire at various times; for example, when a “suicide minder is with a patient while the physician plans his own suicide.” “….he didn’t want to kill himself on a full stomach.”

There are surprises in the book that makes one wonder how the book will end. Spoiler alert: Unfortunately, Millard succeeds in his mission. The book’s ending made me sad since Millard seemed to have much to live for. Because of the ending, I’d pass on the book. I guess I prefer a book with hope.

2.5 stars

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion.

It's Millard Salter's 75 birthday. He starts the day meeting with a woman he has recently fallen in love with and helps with her final plans to kill herself that day. He plans to join her in the afterlife at the end of the day. He then goes to his work as the head of the psychiatric department of a local hospital. Millard has his final day planned out between visits with his children, final plans for his colleagues and a visit to his last wife's cemetery plot. Along the way, Millard thinks about people and activities in his past and steels himself to go through with his plans.

The book is well-written, but about 40% into the book it really starts to drag. I just couldn't muster up the energy to care about Millard, his wandering thoughts or what happened to him. I really had to push myself to finish the book.

Disappointing. It is not "A Man Called Ove" that's for sure. I had expected something similar, as both the main subjects in each novel had decided to end their lives. Whereas Ove was a likable, easy to relate to individual, Millard was not. Ove flowed easily, and Millard was disjointed, covering too much and too many characters in one single day, making it choppy and hard to follow - after awhile you didn't even care to follow. I admit to skimming through many parts of it, that did not add anything to the story line, just jumbled it up.

Millard was a psychiatrist and trying to settle any lose ends professionally and personally before hanging himself. He would often start a statement and meander on to something else, kind of like when you are thinking of too many things at one time. Sometimes it would take several paragraphs for him to get back to what he was going to say to begin with. This frustrated me.

I give it the extra star (bringing it to 2) only because he wrote very intelligently and wittingly at times. Some paragraphs making one chuckle. However, this was not enough positivity for me to recommend this novel.

Read from 11/9 though 11/12/17 compliments of Net Galley. Thank you for the opportunity.

Thanks to NetGalley, Gallery Books, and Jacob Appel for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I enjoyed this book - with a few caveats. Millard Salter is a psychologist who is turning 75 and has decided to end his life. He's not sick - he's just seen his share of people at the end of their life with no recourse so has decided to take the matter in his own hands. But of course his last day doesn't go as planned, as he meets with people that give him pause about his decision. He tries to set things right that he feels he has regrets about - meeting an ex-wife, trying to counsel a son.

But the author seemed to go on tangents on a multitude of subjects - and make sure you have your dictionary nearby to try and figure out some of the words he uses!

Still in all - a good book with lots to ponder

A man plans to commit suicide but decides to spend the day having last conversations with those closest to him. He interacts with family and colleagues, friends and acquaintances, and reflects on whether his final decision really is the best one. Author Jacob M. Appel presents a book that seems less like a story and more like a string of incidents in the dismal novel Millard Salter’s Last Day.

Millard Salter grew up in a New York City no one seems to remember anymore. Celebrities, neighborhood haunts, even the lingo people use has changed. Of course, things can change a lot in 75 years, including a person’s health. That’s why Millard has decided to take his health into his own hands. Before he gets diagnosed with a terminal illness or suffers a fall or any other ailment senior citizens usually face, he’s going to kill himself. And his 75th birthday seems like a good day for it.

Of course, Millard can’t just commit suicide without checking in with the other people in his life first. He arrives at work at St. Dymphna’s Hospital where runs the psychiatry department only to find out a lynx is on the loose and the woman he can’t stand has heard a rumor about him retiring and wants his job. At lunch with Lysander, his 43-year-old unemployed, he fails to impart any meaningful life principles. He even musters up the courage to call on his ex-wife after more than decades and gets an earful and a surprise.

Through it all, including an unexpected interaction with his youngest child, Maia, Millard remains steadfast in his purpose. He can’t help dropping little hints about his plans throughout the day to his nearest and dearest, although no one reads between the lines. But it doesn’t matter to Millard anymore. What matters is that he’s always lived his life on his own terms, and now he’s going to end it that way too.

Author Jacob M. Appel’s latest book garnered early attention as comparable to Fredrik Backman’s smash hit, A Man Called Ove. Devoted fans of the latter should definitely not read Millard Salter’s Last Day. Other than starring a protagonist intent on suicide, the two books couldn’t be more different from one another.

Appel’s novel reads less like a conventional story and more like a book-length list of incidents. The fact that the entire tome takes place over the course of a single day makes the pace drag almost unbearably. Millard wants to meet every single person who means something to him and runs into a few along the way who don’t mean that much. Going through every account will eventually exhaust readers.

While Millard’s determination may impress some readers, more of them may wonder where the story will end up. Appel tries to dress up most of the slow spots with Millard’s reminiscences of old-time New York City, but with most of the names unfamiliar to younger generations at some point readers will lose their patience.

That lack of patience will spill over to Millard as well; he comes across as wholly unlikeable and insufferable. At some point his pomposity comes across almost unjustified. His decision to kill himself, then, feels as much an expression of his ego as his complaints that the current generation knows nothing of the greats of the past.

The book winds to its inevitable, and thereby disappointing, conclusion. In the end, the incidents preceding the end of the book feel less than satisfying. I recommend readers Bypass Millard Salter’s Last Day.

The blurb for this one does a good job of summing up the premise, although some things are a bit misleading. As a psychiatrist, our main character does have an up close and personal viewpoint on the affects that aging can have on the mind and body, and like most of us, he doesn't want to go through that or be a burden. He takes it a step further and decides to end his life before the inevitable happens.
While the book is well-written, and at times humorous, I had a hard time connecting to this character. The story also requires a bit of a suspension of belief on some of things that happened as well as the possibility that all of it happened in the span of one day. I did continue reading, mostly because I kept expecting someone or something to stop the intended suicide and I did have some curiosity about that aspect. I won't give that part away, but I will say that with so many distracting side-stories and a character that I found less than engaging, this one was just too easy to set aside for later. I didn't find that compelling aspect in a story that makes you want to read just one more chapter before turning out the light, making this one just an okay read for me.

This is a very poignant story about a man in his later years of life who has decided to end it rather than go through the struggle of old age. He’s seen too many family members and friends succumb to the deterioration of old age and it’s not something he wants to go through. He’s set the day for his 70th birthday and has a few things to wrap up before he does it. There is humor in how he tries to get through his day but has to deal with coworkers, ex-wife, kids, the general populace. This story really does put into question just how far does one want to go through life before they are just too tired, sad, unhappy, lonely to want to continue. To be able to have the control to die with dignity when one feels its time. There are characters that made me laugh out loud, made me sad, made me frustrated. This isn’t a book for light reading. This is a story full of emotion surrounding a controversial subject.

This is just a lovely little story, in my opinion. Millard Salter has decided that he's had enough and that his 75th birthday will be his last day on Earth. He will assist a dying woman, Delilah (with whom he has developed a romantic relationship) in her own death by suicide, say his goodbyes, wrap up a few details, and then go out on his own terms. Lots of things happen throughout the day to challenge his decision, and they are all told in a hilarious way that always strikes the right tone without crossing the line into unbelievable farce. I appreciated Dr. Salter's sense of humor, his outlook on life, and the thought he'd given to what he wanted to accomplish before his death. Maybe this book isn't for everyone, but personally I enjoyed it a lot.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book was very interesting to say the least! I was in a horrible book funk and it was able to snap me out and hold my attention as I read. This is the first time I’ve read anything by this author and it was a decent read. I liked the premise of the story but at certain times while reading I felt the plot was scattered over the place. There were a lot of side stories mentioned in this book with no resolution. Plus the ending in my opinion was abrupt. A small part of me hoped for a different outcome but I’m not surprised with what happened. My issue with the ending is how is just ends. No aftermath. Nothing. So that was a little disappointing for me but overall I did enjoy the story by this author.

3.5 Stars

With no hidden agendas, this book follow Millard Salter on the day he intends to kill himself. It also happens to be his 75th birthday. A combination of normal routine with checking off last visits, Dr. Salter also considers whether or not to really go through with it. Sprinkled throughout are copious memories of the good and bad parts of his life. This novel is strikingly honest feeling, as though Mr. Appel were writing Dr. Salter's memoirs and had access to all his thoughts. I enjoyed following Millard on the bittersweet journey of his last day.

Millard Salter has decided to end it all. It is the end. Finished, kaput, done. He plans on hanging himself.
In the meantime he has to deal with an escaped feline, that is terrorizing the hosputal.where he works. A colleague whom he despises is trying to tell him to put her in a leadership position. The answer, not only NO but HELL NO. He saves a woman from a purse snatcher, only to find he has destroyed a scene in a shoot. He falls and hurts his knees and hands.
What a terrible day. It seems like maybe life is worth living. It is his BIRTHDAY after all.
An enticing book, that you just can't put down. Sometimes you feel sadness and sometimes you see the humor of living Millards life.
Well written, totally enjoyable. 5 Stars

Millard Salter's Last Day by Jacob M. Appel is a recommended story of a 75 year-old man who wants to end his life.

It is Millard Salter's 75th birthday and it is the day he wants to end his life, before he becomes incapacitated. He doesn't want to slowly fade out or lose control. He would rather plan his suicide, by hanging, after he handles some final details on this, his last day. He goes to work at St. Dymphna’s Hospital, where he is a psychiatrist, and continues as if this is an ordinary day, as he deals with all the various problems that crop up on any day. One problem is a lost lynx somewhere in the hospital (and you will wonder if it is really a lynx until the question is answered).

He meets with patients. He talks to a student who wants a recommendation. He deals with various colleagues with widely divergent temperaments. He purposefully seeks out his ex-wife, whom he hasn't seen for twenty-seven years. He meets his his youngest son, Lysander, for lunch. He visits the grave of his second wife, Isabelle. He stops in to see Delilah, the widow he has fallen in love with. He talks to his youngest daughter, Maia. Basically, Millard goes through his day, reminiscing and reflecting, but still planning to end his life. He's trying to tie up any loose ends before his end.

There are many humorous scenes and descriptions. Millard is a old pro at word play and puns. He freely shares his thoughts with the reader, some of them serious, like the right to die. The day itself was full of enough odd occurrences that many able-bodied people (of which Millard is one) would want to change their plans just to see what the next day had in store for them. There were enough surprising things that happened that it would be fitting for the man to pause and reconsider his course of actions. Rather than thinking about how old or outdated he feels, perhaps this psychiatrist should have looked at his own thoughts and asked for some help. ("Physician heal thyself.")

While very well-written technically, the actual content of Millard's day combined with his thoughts seemed a bit too meandering. But the overwhelming trouble with this novel for me was the inability to feel any connection or sympathy for a man who wants to end his life based on his age and before he has any health problems. Sorry, but that is not a good enough reason for this reader. Just because he is 75 isn't a reason not to embrace the life he has. He has no major health issues, no physical limitations, no financial struggles. There are so many people who have a life filled with what could be viewed as legitimate reasons to want life to end, but yet they still embrace life and live it to the fullest. (And, I would not describe this novel as "heartwarming" or as "in the spirit of "A Man called Ove." Millard is not a curmudgeon.)

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Gallery Books.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2017/11/millard-salters-last-day.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2175171651
https://www.librarything.com/work/20235926/reviews/147847009
https://www.facebook.com/shetreadssoftly/
https://twitter.com/SheTreadsSoftly/status/927275574242013185

Millard Salter's Last Day is the first book by Jacob M. Appel so I wasn't sure what to expect. What I found was a humorous tale about this thing called life. This is a standalone book.

The book blurb adequately describes the storyline so I'm not going to repeat that all of that info here. The events in this book take place over a short timeline of one day. While I thought that the storyline would be predictable, I was surprised by twists and turns. This book isn't great but is better than average and worth reading.