Its self-obsessed because its a memoir.

He repeatedly talks about how 'frothy' he now realises magazine writing was and constantly regrets the little things he took for granted. He had never been to Hong Kong, but was simply imagining it, so I don't know how you decided it was what he missed most.

He never indicates anywhere that he misses his BMW, infact, it was merely the last car he drove.

Did you even read it?

i did read it but our views and interpretation obviouly differ .
not all memoirs reveal such self obsession .
i think the circumstances under which the book was written do not make the book good ; it is still shallow . suffering does not transform a bad writer into a good one but it does help the marketing .

I'm going to have to agree with you ... your review is ballsy, and honestly, the first half of the book had me thinking three things 1) Why did they let this poor bastard live, only to have him suffer? 2) Why all this self-centered whining? 3) Why can't I feel sorry for this guy when he's had a massive stroke and is locked in his own body?

I kind of had to let go of that while reading. This poor dude, it's like I just wanted to hear him out because of his shitty situation, and I 5 starred it because it was his story in the end, even if I didn't particularly like him, it's still his memoir. And I'd be a self centered asshole too if I were locked in my own body.

I am just about to read the book. Yours is the only negative review I've read and that will add perspective for me.

I agree that he seemed self-centered and snarky but to me that was a large part of the book's redemption... If it truly was as shmatzy and "poetically uplifting" as many people billed it to be, then it would have horrific to slog thru depite it's short length...

I didn't see it the way many did, and I saw him as a bit of an impish toad...but for me that was ok, good even, and is the charm of many a frenchman.

But I ask you... Why does he need to be sympathetic or sensitive, for it to be a good story? I think it lays his personality and his sometimes odd views on the table nicely... and paints the picture of a very interesting man and the multi-facets of his character. This to me is plenty for it to be a moderate sucess and worth reading (granted even I am baffled by some of the 4 and 5 star ratings, but what have you). But why do you need to like him as a person for it to be a good book??

I mean I almost threw up a little when I read the whole licking ice cream of sunburnt skin moment... it felt a bit creepy and preditory, but I don't feel the need to like or admire a main character to take something from a book... sure the man was deeply bizarre and egocentric but that made him and his daydreams much more interesting... at least IMO.

So while I agree with some of what you noticed--you are mistaken on some of the details, but seem to have caught more of the spirit--I am a bit confused at how it leads to your conclusions (I mean pollyannaish and trite would only fit if he truly were so optimistic and admirable as often billed, but he's not; plus I'm really not sure if you were hoping he would be or not... you almost come across as if you would have been happier if it had in fact been trite and pollyannaish because then he'd be an appropiately sypathetic victim.) But I also wonder if you gave it enough of a chance since you admittedly begrudgingly rushed thru it (out of an obligation) while distracted with other books... so it's possible even you wouldn't have reached the same conclusion under different circumstances.

Then again maybe you gave it 1 star more interntionally to serve as a counterpoint to some of the absurdly high rankings, too. Which I could see quite easily how one could hold that desire.

I didn't care for the book, either even though I really tried to like it. If for nothing else, his situation was an incredible one, and I wanted to hear an incredible story.

I found his book rather poorly written, poorly organized, and, well, boring. There were a few gems here and there, the kinds of thoughts and revelations you'd hope to hear from someone in his situation. But they were few and far between.

I'm glad the book was a short one.

I have to say the fact that he was such an unlikeable person added to the book. I like books that are real, I appreciate that the author didn't sugar coat things or try to make himself look good because this was going to be the last piece left of him. It was real and I loved it for that.

I totally agree with you. I don't care for selfish self-centered materialistic people in general, and I can't bring myself to care too much about one who has become quadriplegic. Though I sympathize with anyone going through such an ordeal it doesn't make their words any more worth reading.

why does it always have to be about you and what you want others to be?

@ Vanessa, don't you think that is a little much? Telling someone that they are being selfish because they don't like a book that you like....I really believe had this guy not had his accident and just wrote his memoirs no one would want to read it. It's vapid and boring. But he did have his accident and people act like it's an amazing book...yes, it may be remarkable that he was able to dictate it by blinking his left eye but the book itself is no better because of it. That is my opinion and I'm entitled to it, just as you are entitled to believe it is one of the greatest achievements in literature of our times. And neither one of us is doing anything wrong :)

hey, Christina...sorry my comment was made flippantly...i was having fun and being playful and came off asshole. seems like you read the question as an attack directed at you--it was not. i was just surprised at how many critical reviews i read and was seeing how funny reviews are because they tell us less about the books and more about the people reading them. no--for me this was not "one of the greatest achievements of literature" as you conjecture, but that is not why i read--i read to connect and understand someone else's experience, even if it's someone i don't like much. i found the language lyrical and some of its quiet moments very tender. i liked to see how a crack of humility gets into a man who had perhaps tried to live more on the surface of life...life does give us what we need, the experiences we need to grow into our depth and i saw that this did happen to the author and i found it touching that he was moved (stubbornly, slowly, maybe) into a softness. i didn't experience him as materialistic and selfish--no more selfish than any of us who care about our lives and wish to not live as he did "locked-in"...how do we know what selfish thoughts we might have in that situation? and also, our thoughts about the book are just as "selfish"-- "i didn't like/i did like are about us and our desires and this is okay, human--this is what i was pointing at). i liked the book because i could connect to an experience i never have had. i was just noting that our reviews are always about us and our beliefs and expectations and just as selfish as anyone we might judge to be selfish from a book--this is just a human thing, something we all do when we believe that the thoughts in our heads are real and use them to filter and evaluate our worlds. i hear that you expected more from the book and didn't like its narrator much and you want (and, of course, have) the freedom to have that stance...i was simply observing that the reader reads with her own preferences and desires and judgments about the world in mind, and that determines the degree to which we are open to receiving a book. my review is about me. your review is about you. that is all i was saying. peace.

also maybe suggesting that we trust that someone living in this unique circumstance on the edge of life and death might know a little more than us about how it might be to live in that experience--and that we can also be guilty of reading something superficially. just because the author recalls memories in which his car (BMW brand) was a part of i did not get any sense that it was the car he was talking about or attached to. interesting how we all read in such different ways.