| View Larger Image | I Had Brain Surgery, What's Your Excuse? | Paperbackby Suzy Becker (Author)
| List Price: | $12.95 | | Price: | $11.01 | | You Save: | $1.94 (15%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Paperback | | Publisher: | Workman Publishing Company | | Page Count: | 256 Pages | | Publication Date: | August 15, 2005 | | Sales Rank: | 644,117th |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
Now in paperback, the ingenious illustrated memoir that is widely praised: “Hilarious, hell-raising, and frequently heart-wrenching.” —Booklist “[A] unique tragicomedy of a memoir . . . The author is so likable, even in her darkest hour, that as you applaud her recovery you also realize you’ll miss looking after her.” —Entertainment Weekly (“A” rating) “Compelling reading . . . Becker has turned one person’s experience into a universal story of family, healing, and the return to creativity.” —Library Journal (starred review) “A wonderful book, funny and touching, harrowing and sweet.” —Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird For years Suzy Becker, author of the New York Times bestseller All I Need to Know I Learned from My Cat (1.7 million copies in print), literally lived by her wits. Then brain surgery left her temporarily unable to speak, read, or write. I Had Brain Surgery, What's Your Excuse? is a story that grapples with the question “What makes me me?” By turns philosophical and whimsical, rivetingly dramatic and unexpectedly light, it is illustrated with drawings, charts, pseudoserious graphs, real EEGs. The result is a book filled with insights into creativity, identity, love, relationships, family, and that intangible something that gives each of us our spark. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 39 reviews)
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Been there, done that by Sally J. Siegrist (Perrineville, NJ United States)  5 Stars
September 05, 2009
Suzy Becker has written the definitive survival guide for post-surgery recovery from brain surgery. Reading her book confirmed that I wasn't crazy but was suffering from cognitive deficits that my surgeon, neurologist and oncologist told me were impossible to have. The book made me realize that the lack of empathy from the medical team that treated me pre, during and post surgery is not my imagination. While I am not so fond of my neurologist that I give him gifts, I did give him a copy of I Had Brain Surgery, What's Your Excuse? With the book was a little note expressing my hope that by reading it he would be able to understand and have some empathy for his patients.
Thank you, Suzy Becker, for an illuminating and hysterically funny primer on what is a not so funny problem in the medical community. You have inspired me to continue on the path to complete recovery with hope.
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A Must Read! by C. Heavey 5 Stars
July 24, 2009
I've had to read this book twice, and not because of my slow processing speed from my own brain surgery, but because it thoroughly touched my heart.
Every hospital with a neurosurgical unit should have in their library a copy of this book, and it should be read by patients and caregivers. It depicts the reality of what could happen after having a craniotomy, and it does so in a warm, humorous, truthful way. Some of the drawings in the book are so humorous that they helped change my attitude towards my own deficits. I feel a little lighter.
Had this book been available prior to surgery, I would have been more prepared. Had I read it immediately after surgery (after I learned how to read again) I would have felt comfort to have laughed and cried along with Suzy's experience and not felt so alone. Thanks, Suzy, for bringing light to the reality of brain surgery.
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Not recommended for anyone about to have brain surgery! by Lynnie (Florida)  2 Stars
May 05, 2009
I had brain surgery in October '08, and would not recommend this book to anyone who's about to have brain surgery (or just had it.) It's entertaining but certainly not a realistic handbook for recovery.
A recent brain surgery patient is more likely to find this book depressing, rather than inspirational, because very few of us measure up to Suzy. Three days after surgery, Suzy's at the gym riding an incumbent bike for 25 minutes. A week after surgery, she's hoeing in her garden, and then the next day, after making homemade coleslaw, lemonade and key lime pie for her girlfriend, she makes love to her. The day after that, she's driving her car and mowing her lawn. Within 7 weeks she's biking 75 miles, and less than 10 weeks after her surgery, she bikes 100 miles a day for five days in Ride FAR, a fund-raising event she coordinates for AIDS research...you get the picture. What? Is she Wonder Woman? For the first six weeks after surgery the best advice is to get plenty of rest and mild exercise...like walking.
And the speech problems Suzy describes could frighten prospective patients. (Plus, they don't shave as much hair off these days!)
If you've just had brain surgery (or are about to have it) check out: www.meningiomamommas.org for a more realistic picture...and plenty of helpful moral support. Or check out founder Liz Holzemer's book Curveball: When Life Throws You a Brain Tumor
I'm glad Suzy recovered so well...but don't take this book literally...
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wonderful! by M. Regalia (Houston, TX) 5 Stars
March 01, 2009
wonderful seller.. recieved the item on the date quoted and in excellent condition.. thank you so much!
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Loved it Loved it Loved it by Tamara C. Vallejo (Old Bridge, NJ) 5 Stars
January 21, 2009
My partner bought this book which came highly recommended by her therapists after receiving a brain tumor resection. It sat on her desk for months and finally I decided to read it. I spent the entire day completely absorbed and read the entire book cover to cover. Through out the entire book I found myself laughing, crying and sometimes even sobbing only to be laughing again.
After surgery my partner lost much of her short term memory, and also has difficulty with aphasia and vision. Suzy Becker's descriptions vividly captured so many of the issues that we have been dealing with such as the struggles of feeling "stupid." I see the look of frustration in her eyes when some one claims that they too forget things like where they put there keys and if she has to explain one more time that it is not the same... I too find myself guilty of this, but was able to find more understanding about it through reading Suzy's experiences.
I particularly found the dynamics of Ms. Becker's relationship and how it changed post surgery to be of great interest. The fact that she is gay is not the issue but more how two people can be in a relationship for such a relatively short period of time and go through such a life altering experience that changes ones personality so completely. While one is trying to figure out where they fit in with in that relationship, the other is wondering where they fit in life. It's a struggle on both ends and in the end has a way of either drawing a couple closer or tearing them apart.
I believe that anyone who has either suffered from brain trauma or is close to someone who has had Brain trauma will absolutely benefit from reading this book. Whether it makes you feel not so alone or gives you an understanding into a mind that doesn't quite understand itself enough to explain. It will take you on a journey that no one should have to go through but only will make you stronger getting through.
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