title: Breathing for a Living: A Memoir
author:  Laura Rothenberg 
description: It would be easy to assume that the story of Laura Rothenberg's battle with cystic fibrosis is one of a brave young woman staying constantly positive in the face of tremendous adversity. But situations such as hers are rarely that simple. Thankfully, the portrait that emerges in her memoir, <em>Breathing for a Living</em>, is that of a complex and very real human being who experiences joy, anger, despair, and hopefulness while struggling to live the kind of normal life most of her fellow college students take for granted. And while her candor is admirable, what makes Rothenberg a remarkable author is her dedication to just getting words written down on the page at times when many would simply retreat from the world. Through an agonized process of waiting for a lung transplant, she writes down exactly what she's feeling. She writes extensively as her body fights the disease and struggles to accept the new lungs. And as she is shuttled back and forth between her New York home, her academic career at Brown, and numerous emergency hospital stays, she keeps on writing. Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at three days old, Rothenberg spent much of her life in and out of hospital rooms so her medical knowledge is extensive and well documented. One gets the impression that staying on top of this information helped her feel at least somewhat in control of her own situation and it lends a steady gravity to her emotionally charged memoir. The book is a pastiche of e-mails to friends, journal entries, and the occasional snapshot. It looks very much like a college kid's scrapbook, which, in many ways, it is. Rothenbergs energetic prose is highly informal and probably more guileless than one would see from a more seasoned writer. But that intimacy and simplicity adds to the charm and, as Rothenberg's health deteriorates, the heartbreak as well. By the end of <em>Breathing for a Living</em>, the reader loses a friend but gains a greater appreciation of what it means to live.<br />-<em>John Moe</em>
zlib_text: # BREATHE ME IN
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  by Erin McCarthy
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  Copyright **©** 2015 by Erin McCarthy
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
  or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
  means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without
  the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher of this
  book, excepting brief quotations used in reviews. Purchase only authorized
  editions.
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media and
  incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used
  fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations,
  businesses or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  Cover **©** 2014 by Sarah Hansen, Okay Creations
  
  
  
  
  
  Formatting by Polgarus Studio
  
  
  ### Chapter One
  
  
  
  
  
  I’m used to people staring at me, judging. They see the tatto