Staff Book and Media Recommendations

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: a Memoir of Life in Death

Jean-Dominique Bauby

Jean Dominique Bauby used to be the "man" of French fashion, but when the 43 year old editor-in-chief of Elle France suffered a stroke in 1995, he found himself instead a man with only one working eye and brain. Bauby's stroke led him to suffer from a condition known as "locked in" syndrome. While his whole body remained motionless through paralysis, his brain and eye worked.

One of his nurses developed a system in which Bauby could communicate with others. Bauby would blink when the alphabet (reorganized with the most frequently used letters being read first) was read to him, letting him dictate his memoirs of life in death in this 144 page book - with the blink of his eye.

A thin book full of inspirational words, self-pity and humor, Bauby traces his readers through his life, his regrets, and his loves. ~ Amanda Lemon

Reviewed November 2008