THE TIME OF MY DEATH

The remarkably resilient Mr. Breslau, survivor of a 1963 plane crash in which he was horribly burned and mutilated, not only reviews his 46 operations over a period of five years, but investigates the accident itself moment by moment, with a flair for drama and an enthusiastic reportorial eye. It seems that Breslau had ""always wanted to write"" since the sixth grade, and now he had the ""unique experience."" The first section deals with the tragic airline foul-ups--a pilot's bad judgment and clumsy ground operations--and then Breslau details the patient pioneering work of specialists to save his life and restructure the parts of his face and scalp that had been burned away. His face is still disfigured, but ""I stand out in a crowd. . . I know that beauty is only skin deep."" With a devoted and supportive family--and, now, financial security--Breslau is a happy man. Although the medical play-by-play may be too much for the squeamish, this is an ebullient account by a likable and gutsy gent.