false 193755 36 We've all got our idiosyncrasies when it comes to writing--a special chair we have to sit in, a certain kind of yellow paper we absolutely must use. To create this tremendously affecting memoir, Jean-Dominique Bauby used the only tool available to him--his left eye--with which he blinked out its short chapters, letter by letter. Two years ago, Bauby, then the 43-year-old editor-in-chief of <i>Elle</i> France, suffered a rare stroke to the brain stem; only his left eye and brain escaped damage. Rather than accept his "locked in" situation as a kind of death, Bauby ignited a fire of the imagination under himself and lived his last days--he died two days after the French publication of this slim volume--spiritually unfettered. In these pages Bauby journeys to exotic places he has and has not been, serving himself delectable gourmet meals along the way (surprise: everything's ripe and nothing burns). In the simplest of terms he describes how it feels to see reflected in a window "the head of a man who seemed to have emerged from a vat of formaldehyde." 565494 book 1997 The Diving Bell and the Butterfly total:6080|5:2048|4:2333|3:1336|2:311|1:52| 6080 24254 9914 1376 5 10 false false Sat Dec 29 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Apr 24 09:29:44 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 08 20:30:08 -0700 2008 “Does it take the harsh light of disaster to show a person’s true nature?”

The situation is unimaginable: waking from a coma to find yourself trapped in your own body, able to think clearly and understand what is going on around you, but unable to partake in any of what transpires...more...]]> 5 7 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1998 Wed Mar 26 18:51:19 -0700 2008 Sun May 25 16:36:48 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 4 false false Fri Sep 05 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 02 15:37:36 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 05 06:21:10 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 4 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 02 21:37:01 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 02 21:43:38 -0700 2008
First, let me say that the "writing" of the book by someone in such a state is an amazing accomplishment and I dare not take that away from him. (For those that don't...more...]]> 1 3 false false Sat Mar 08 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Mar 05 13:11:18 -0800 2008 Mon Mar 10 08:31:39 -0700 2008 the writer a quadraplegic with locked in syndrome who died shortly after the publication of this book mangages to make himself into a totally unsympathetic character .
i really disliked this book i suppose because it has gained such an good reputation . this ...more...]]> 5 3 false false Thu Jul 26 20:39:21 -0700 2007 Sat Jul 28 19:14:04 -0700 2007 A Small Book with a Big Soul

Jean-Dominique Bauby's "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is a small book composed of many big wonders. Primary among this book's extraordinary qualities is the fact that Bauby, a former editor in chief of the world-famous French Elle, was able to ...more...]]> 4 3 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 16 01:46:28 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 28 15:02:07 -0700 2008 0 2 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 30 15:28:24 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 30 15:28:24 -0800 2009
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a collection of short reflections and anecdotes by Jean-Dominique Bauby, the once-editor of the French Elle who at age forty-three suffered a massive stroke that left him completely paralyzed, unable to...more...]]> 4 2 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 10 16:31:01 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 10 17:02:40 -0800 2008 more...]]> 1 3 false false Mon Mar 31 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 17 11:21:21 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 01 01:36:18 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Apr 07 17:21:54 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 07 17:24:35 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Sun Aug 24 06:05:38 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 11 09:38:31 -0700 2009 Elle, had a stroke in his mid 40's that left him with a body entirely paralyzed but a mind fully intact. T...more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Jul 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 16 11:42:04 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 18 06:35:15 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Wed Jul 02 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 11 17:08:28 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 03 03:14:54 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Apr 28 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu May 08 15:35:12 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 26 08:16:44 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 18 07:13:03 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 18 07:14:24 -0800 2008
In its very short chapters, Bauby intertwines observations of his daily life and memories. It's as if the sensory deprivation he experienced when writing the book sharpened each impression into almost unbearable acuity. Observati...more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 06 12:11:15 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 06 12:12:49 -0800 2008 Now that I've finished the book, the most fascinating part of it is that the author accomplishe...more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Dec 27 18:24:21 -0800 2007 Tue Dec 18 00:19:10 -0800 2007 Tue Dec 18 14:09:26 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Nov 11 06:20:54 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 15 18:04:26 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Sep 04 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 02 05:29:04 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 04 08:55:29 -0700 2008
Well, this book, which also was ma...more...]]>