Customer Rating:  
Summary: Tedious, fascinating, and weird
Comment: I would give the author herself 5 stars for her journey and her perseverance and being able to overcome severe deficits.
For the book, however, 3 stars is generous, in my opinion. As the daughter of a recent stroke survivor, I found very useful information about how to deal with my mother and how to encourage her, and it also gave me great hope for her continued improvement and recovery. BUT......way too much right-brain writing going on here. "I love my cells" is an actual quote and perfectly illustrates how much of the last third of the book is written. I am glad I read this book and will recommend it to my sisters, but with the suggestion to just to read the middle section.
The first third is tedious, the middle third is fascinating, and the final third is weird.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A must read!
Comment: Dr. Jill is amazing. She's taken what most of us might see as a terrible experience and is changing the world in a positive way. In addition to wriring, she is also a wonderful speaker--because she does both from the heart. This book is especially important for anyone entering the medical field or those who are involved in the heatlhcare of others in any way. This book is a great complement to Pearls of Wellness (Pearls of Wellness 52 Inspirations to Achieve a Peaceful Body, Mind, and Spirit).
Customer Rating:
Summary: In the end you will have knowledge and empathy.
Comment: Dr Bolte Taylor paints a picture with words about the horrors and bliss associated with having her stroke. Through this, she inspires us to look beyond the physical body that is beset with limitations and instead seek out the mental, feeling, emotional side of not just stroke victims but of all patients and of all humanity. Through that she reveals we can shape our inner self to focus on what really matters. I cannot imagine many people reading her book or seeing her lecture at TED.com walking away without having been greatly impacted by the beauty and truth of her story. I, for one, have been greatly touched on so many levels by listening to and reading about her experiences. And, I dare say, my patients have benefited as a result.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not useful and a waste of time.
Comment: I am writing this review for my father, who suffered his first major ischemic stroke in the right hemisphere of his brain in October, 1995. More than one doctor told me they didn't understand how he'd survived that amount of damage, by all accounts he should have died. But he didn't. Since then, he's had two more, less major, ischemic strokes.
He heard about this book and immediately purchased it. He's always been interested in learning about how others have dealt with the devastating and debilitating aftermath often encountered following a stroke.
He was fully unimpressed and completely disappointed with this book. He had high hopes because the author is a well-educated brain scientist who, unfortunately, also suffered a stroke, albeit a different kind of stroke from my father because she had a hemorrhagic stroke.
According to my father, this book seemed to focus more on her spirituality. He also had the impression that she was, in some respects, almost touting stroke's praises...almost as if she was recommending having a stroke so that one could be closer with their spirituality.
If you are looking for help dealing with your own stroke, or that of another, this is NOT the book to purchase. If you do, you, too, will be disappointed in its lack of assistance.
If you are looking for a guide to get closer to your own spiritualness, then this is a good one to read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: An Excellent and Very Revealing Insight
Comment: There is a lot to learn about how the brain works and what happens before, during and after a stroke. This is one person's experience from a very unique perspective--a person who studies brain function and who has had a stroke. The vivid depictions of the experience and the recovery held my attention like a murder mystery--yet better because I felt it was a real story and I think knowledge of the brain function is more mystery than science.
I recommend that everyone, who might have a stroke, everyone who cares for someone, has a family member, or a friend who has had a stroke, should read this book. It is quick and there is at least one important bit of information for each of us.
The only connection that I felt was missing was information about recovery support from a "significant other". To me this would seem important.
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