Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: My Year Off : Recovering Life After a Stroke by Robert McCrum ISBN: 0-7679-0400-1 Publisher: Broadway Pub. Date: 07 September, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.07 (15 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Autobiography--Recovering Life After Stroke
Comment: MY YEAR OFF, Recovering Life After a Stroke By Robert McCrum
I understand the frustration of Robert McCrum trying to reach a telephone when he succeeded he found that he could barely make himself understood. I went through the same thing, but I was lucky enough that I was with my wife when the stroke occurred and although I couldn't talk I was put in an ambulance, took to the hospital and was under a doctor care within 40 minutes. Robert McCrum's stroke was much more severer that mine. He was hours getting to a doctor with his condition getting worse all the time...
Actually, this book is a very good autobiography of Mr. McCrum's life thought his stroke and recovery; although he is still recovering I am sure. And an interesting life it was and will continue to be. This book will be very useful to the members of my stroke club. Now, I will read the rest of his books. This one is worth five stars to me.
Rating: 4
Summary: Required reading for anyone stricken suddenly by disease.
Comment: McCum's book begins with a riveting account of his stroke and his efforts to get help when he finds himself alone in his two story flat, paralyzed, passing in and out of consciousness, and unable to get to a phone without somehow getting out of bed and going downstairs. The chapters that follow, explaining "brain attacks" were not particularly interesting to me as a physician, but may be of great interest to nonmedical people in search of information and understanding about strokes. The account of his slow physical recovery was interesting but it was his honest assessment of the mental anguish that he struggled with during this period that I found to be the most compelling part of this book. He painfully but courageously descibes his disenfranchisement with the "normal" world, his realization that he can never be the person he once was, his grief at having to give up his former life, and his fear in facing the new life that lay ahead of him as a disabled person. His willingness to expose his fear, his vulnerability, and his darkest moments of his depression would help anyone suddenly stricken with a life-changing illness that finds themselves in the same sort of environment that McCrum did -- surrounded by medical people who can't or won't confront his fears of not recovering, of having a recurrence, and of ever having the semblance of a normal life again. His struggle to discover who he really is after the stroke strikes a resonant note in all of our lives, as he points out that this struggle is often simmering below the surface of our busy lives, begging to be attended to, but ignored and pushed back under the surface because we often do not have the time or energy to pursue the question. Not only did the stroke give McCrum the unlimited time to ponder such a deep question, but it gave him the courage to change careers, something he had been vaguely contemplating before the stroke but made a reality afterwards. This book should be required reading for anyone struggling to regain their footing after any life-changing illness, because the emotional changes are identical, and beautifully articulated by McCrum.
Rating: 3
Summary: Not helpful if you need info on serious strokes
Comment: This was one of a mountain of books I poured over following my father's severe intracerebral hemorragic stroke, which has left him quite disabled both physically and mentally. For persons, such as myself, searching for answers and insight on how to cope with the seriously disabling stroke of a loved one, this is not the right book. Mr. McCrum never lost consciousness, his mental faculties remained intact (indeed, he was keeping a copious and cogent log of his observations from the first days after the stroke), and his physical disabilities were relatively minor (a slowed gait, and weakness on right side). Frankly, the book had a slightly narcissistic tenor, McCrum using every opportunity to name-drop (constantly referring to his many notable visitors), recount his adventures abroad, and demonstrate his command of arcane literature, which he quotes constantly. He discusses how his stroke caused him to rethink his career choices, and feel more committed to his marriage. McCrum's existential crisis, which culminated in his decision to leave his editorial post to become a journalist, left me cold. I think of the thousands of stroke sufferers who cannot put two sentences together, much less write a book. In the end, McCrum's account is less about the consequences of his stroke, and more about the early mid-life crisis it provoked. Mrs. McCrum, on the other hand, wrote extremely candidly and touchingly of her fears and struggles throughout her new husband's recovery. Her passages provide a very real, honest glimpse into the turmoil suffered by the family members of stroke victims, who are often vexed by feelings of helplessness, fear, isolation and sorrow.
 |
Title: The Stroke Recovery Book: A Guide for Patients and Families by Kip Burkman ISBN: 1886039305 Publisher: Independent Publishers Group Pub. Date: May, 1998 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
 |
Title: Living with Stroke : A Guide For Families: Help and New Hope for All Those Touched by Stroke by Richard C., Md Senelick, Peter W., Md Rossi, Karla Dougherry, Karla Dougherty ISBN: 0809226073 Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Contemporary Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
 |
Title: After Stroke by David M. Hinds, Peter Morris ISBN: 0722538855 Publisher: Thorsons Pub Pub. Date: 15 June, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
 |
Title: How to Conquer the World With One Hand...And an Attitude (Second Edition) by Paul E. Berger, Stephanie Mensh, Julian Whitaker ISBN: 0966837878 Publisher: Positive Power Publishing Pub. Date: June, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
 |
Title: After Stroke: Enhancing Quality of Life by Wallace Sife ISBN: 0789003414 Publisher: Haworth Press Pub. Date: April, 1998 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
