Overview

A heartfelt homage to a life-changing friendship At twenty-one, Jen Dupree is working as an Activity Director in a nursing home when she meets Marcel--a man twenty-five years her senior who has cerebral palsy. Despite the physical limitations of his disability, Jen sees in Marcel a magnificent spark: endless curiosity, infectious humor, and an unshakeable propensity for joy. When a doctor tells Marcel to ""get up and move around"" despite his chart clearly noting he's never walked, Jen asks if the doctor brought his magic wand. It's the beginning of a friendship that will span three decades. We live in a society that values speed and efficiency, so what does it mean when your life is necessarily slow and you must rely on others for tasks as simple as wiping your nose? Through nearly thirty years of Portland Pirates hockey games, concerts, hospital advocacy battles, and countless adventures, Jen discovers the answer alongside Marcel. Slow Motion is both a heartfelt tribute to an extraordinary friendship and an awakening to disability rights and advocacy. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, these stories reveal how Marcel has navigated prejudice, medical dismissal, and an ableist culture with grace and determination--and how Jen learned to see the world through entirely new eyes. This is a story about showing up, speaking out, and the transformative power of chosen family. With deadpan humor and unflinching honesty, Dupree offers readers a portrait of friendship that transcends difference and celebrates our shared humanity.

Full Product Details

9781952143465

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Slow Motion is not a story about disabilities--it's a gorgeously rendered love letter to a dear friend. With a lyrical touch and searing honesty, Dupree allows us to fall in love over and over again with two people who need each other in that old human way. This book, these sentences, this friendship are shockingly stunning."" --Dave Patterson, author of Soon the Light Will Be Perfect and Euphoria ""Slow Motion, a moving and well-told memoir about a decades-long friendship between Marcel, a severely disabled man and the author, is an emotionally rich tale of self-empowerment and hard-won advocacy in the face of a disgraceful system that limits and endangers the lives of people with disabilities. This powerful story needs to be told, and author Dupree does so by embracing the humanity and humor shared by two people who genuinely care for each other, embracing the struggles and challenges with humor and determination by both Jennifer and Marcel."" --Marianne Leone, author of Jesse: A Mother's Story ""I've never read a friendship story like this one. Jennifer Dupree writes with mordant humor, grand affection, and righteous rage in nearly equal amounts, giving us a vivid picture of what it means to both friends--the sanguine, wry, severely disabled Marcel and the emotionally messy, able-bodied Jen--to be accepted for exactly who they are. I felt not so much inspired by this story as welcomed into it."" --Monica Wood, national bestselling author of How to Read a Book ""In Slow Motion, Jen Dupree tells the story of a decades-long friendship with a man named Marcel, who has cerebral palsy. She masterfully captures the exasperation of CP: the petty bureaucracy, the insensitive remarks, the absurd transportation situations, and, yes, the frequent glimpses of humanity. She hits just the right notes--the outrage is always productive; it never lapses into cynicism.... I came to this book because of its focus on disability. What will most stick with me is its depiction of friendship. This is a startlingly tender--and often hilarious-- book by a razor-sharp writer. Dupree weaves in the history of CP without falling into didacticism; she sketches lively portraits of her friendship with Marcel without bogging down the narrative. Every scene shines."" --Jeremy Klemin, writer and disability advocate

Author Information

Jen Dupree is the author of two novels, The Miraculous Flight of Owen Leach (2022) and What Do You Want from Me? (2025). She is an assistant editor for The Masters Review, a library director, and a former bookstore owner. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from USM's Stonecoast program. Her work has appeared in December, Solstice, The Masters Review, On the Rusk and other notable places. She is the winner of the Writer's Digest Fiction Contest for 2017, and a two-time winner of a Maine Literary Award (2006, 2022). She lives in Maine with her husband and Portuguese Water Dog (Pink) Floyd. Find her at www.JenniferDupree.com.

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