by Phil Slott Mary Spears ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 20, 2015
Although ostensibly written for caretakers and TBI survivors, this compelling read will comfort anyone who needs inspiration...
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From husband and wife authors Slott (Never let ’em see you sweat, 2014, etc.) and Spears, a touching, frank, and unsparing depiction of the trauma, initial recovery, and ongoing challenges surrounding traumatic brain injury (TBI).
After a drunken driver nearly killed him in an auto collision one Hawaii morning, Slott spent the next few weeks in a coma, then in rehab facilities, and finally back home with his wife, Spears. Unfortunately, the accident dealt a serious blow to his brain, compromising his short-term memory, his ability to concentrate, and even the easy flow of movements and decision-making required to simply get out of bed and start an ordinary day. Slott and, in several chapters, Spears describe not only the physical challenges of working and living with a brain injury, but all the psychological battles as well. While the stated intent of the work is to address an audience of fellow TBI sufferers and their caretakers, the book’s clean prose and tight pacing make it accessible for a wider audience. Slott is careful to stay away from overt bids for sympathy, preferring instead to bolster his audience with slogans of self-improvement and unflagging belief in the ability to overcome seemingly daunting obstacles, whereas Spears provides more of an emotional grounding to each of her chapters. With tremendous honesty, she describes how frustrating it is to take care of someone who is himself deeply frustrated by his condition. Yet these accounts, always couched in deep compassion, often give way to humor. The most affecting portion of the book comes in list form as Spears describes Slott’s various recovery milestones, measured by the day they occurred after the accident. “Day 187: Solo trip to the bathroom.” “Day 215: Undressed himself.” Slott and Spears are also meticulous in their list-making of drug regimens and hospital experiences. The couple functions wonderfully well as a writing team, creating a thoroughly researched, emotional document of the incredible strength and perseverance it takes to overcome the obstacles life often places in our paths.
Although ostensibly written for caretakers and TBI survivors, this compelling read will comfort anyone who needs inspiration for overcoming an incredibly daunting situation.Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2015
ISBN: 978-1503107489
Page Count: 190
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: April 16, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Elie Wiesel & translated by Marion Wiesel ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 16, 2006
The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the...
Elie Wiesel spent his early years in a small Transylvanian town as one of four children.
He was the only one of the family to survive what Francois Maurois, in his introduction, calls the "human holocaust" of the persecution of the Jews, which began with the restrictions, the singularization of the yellow star, the enclosure within the ghetto, and went on to the mass deportations to the ovens of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. There are unforgettable and horrifying scenes here in this spare and sombre memoir of this experience of the hanging of a child, of his first farewell with his father who leaves him an inheritance of a knife and a spoon, and of his last goodbye at Buchenwald his father's corpse is already cold let alone the long months of survival under unconscionable conditions.
Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2006
ISBN: 0374500010
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Hill & Wang
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006
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by Chris Gardner with Quincy Troupe ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2006
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
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