Amazon.co.uk Review
On July 28, 1995, Robert McCrum suffered a severe stroke at the age of 42. His thoughtful memoir chronicles the long, arduous process of recovery. Drawing on his own diaries and those of his wife, Sarah Lyall, (then the publishing columnist for the
New York Times), McCrum presents a detailed portrait of the physical and psychological effects of a stroke. His speech was impaired and his left arm and leg were paralysed, but almost worse was the emotional havoc those disabilities wrought. As the hard-driving, hard-living editor of publishing house Faber & Faber, McCrum had defined himself for 20 years by what he did--now he was forced to ask himself who he was. He ruefully admits that his upbringing in the privileged British upper-middle class, traditionally suspicious of introspection, had ill prepared him for such a struggle, and he pays loving tribute to his American spouse's crucial role in his recovery. (Indeed, the excerpts from Lyall's diaries, which honestly reveal doubt, fear, and anger are among the book's most moving sections.) Famous friends like Salman Rushdie and Michael Ondaatje make appearances at McCrum's London hospital bedside, but Lyall is the narrative's heroine, and the hard-working staff of physical and speech therapists the invaluable supporting players. The author's lucid explanation of a stroke's medical aspects and thorough account of his slow progress toward nearly full recovery will inform and inspire other stroke victims, but at heart this is a touching marital love story and an exciting drama of personal rebirth. --
Wendy Smith
Review
In July 1995, Robert McCrum suffered a severe stroke at the age of 42. The editor-in-chief of Faber & Faber found himself paralysed down his left side, unable to walk or talk intelligibly. Making extensive use of his diary and that of his wife Sarah Lyall, this thoughtful and optimistic memoir takes us through his first year of treatment and recovery. Through a combination of luck and willpower McCrum has overcome most of his physical disabilities, but he has not merely survived the crisis. Paradoxically, his 'brush with death' has given him the freedom to transform himself into someone more fully alive. Like Tom in The Water Babies, he feels he has 'left my sooty clothes on the riverbank and became purged and renewed'. Rampant workaholism in a job he had grown to dislike has been replaced by a less stressful career and a more relaxed family life with his wife and new baby daughter. 'Perhaps,' he wonders, 'my stroke had been a blessing in disguise...' (Kirkus UK)
The perceptive memoir of a 42-year-old British publisher's tortuous journey of recovery after a stroke. A successful man in the prime of life, just two months after marrying New York Times writer Sarah Lyall, is suddenly rendered helpless by a stroke so complete that he's reduced to almost infantlike abilities. But McCrum's years as the editor-in-chief of Faber & Faber in London serve him in good stead. He uses his tragedy to learn more about himself and, through his research and revelations, provides others in similar circumstances with a road map of sorts through a very rocky trip. McCrum (co-author of The Story of English, 1986, etc.) must start from scratch to relearn how to walk, talk, and handle the tasks of daily living. In addition to tracing the baby steps he begins, literally, to take, My Year Off also chronicles McCrum's battle with depression, his feelings of shame at his "reduced" state, his fears about the future, and the toll the "insult to the brain" has taken on his very new marriage. "Who am I?" he writes. "It was a question that would nag throughout my year off, and even now I am still not free of a persistent, and possibly pointless, anxiety about the existential and psychic meaning of my illness." The book includes excerpts from both McCrum's and his wife's diaries, thereby making the book useful for victim and caregiver alike. Also included is the little medical information now available about strokes - especially sobering, since each year in Britain alone some 10,000 people of working age will suffer one. A vivid reminder to seize the day. (Kirkus Reviews)
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