"A wistful, poetic, ironic and whimsically affirmative testament by a man who refused to die in spirit". -- The New York Times This soaringly eloquent book is at once a record of appalling suffering and a testament to the endurance of the human spirit, and has been acclaimed by everyone from Elie Wiesel to Andrew Weil. In December 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby, the witty, gregarious editor of French Elle, suffered a massive stroke that left him totally paralyzed, able to communicate only by blinking his left eye. By doing so, he was able to compose this book, in which he reveals a voice that is by tums wistful and mischievous, angry and sardonic, as he describes a day spent with his children and savors memories of his lover and the delectable meals they've shared, even as he is fed by tube. What emerges is a work of genuine wonder and exultation.
