Activities Of Daily Living

 Lisa Hsaio Chen wrote Activities Of Daily Living. In this unusual novel she writes about time and how people fill their time and how people perceive the passing of time. The main character is Alice who lives in New York City, is in her mid thirties and is a Taiwanese immigrant. She works on projects She edits videos for other people but she also has a project of her own. She is studying a performance artist Tehching Hsieh. This artist is a real person who did several year long projects. One year he lived in a cage in his apartment. A friend came every day to bring him food and water and to empty his commode. Another year he punched a time clock every hour for a year. He took photos of himself punching the clock. Another year he attached himself with a 8 foot rope to another artist (a female) and the lived attached, but not touching, for a year. While Alice is doing research on the artist her step-father, living in California, is declining. She flies out to California frequently to help her sister care for him. As he declines mentally they find places for him to get care to help him complete his activities of daily living.  As they talk Alice helps him take stock of his life. The book is designed to have short chapters with random snippets of Alice's life and I think that is why it is an unusual book.