The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

This memoir was written by blinking. The author, Jean-Dominique Bauby, former editor of french Elle magazine, has a stroke at 43 that left him mentally trapped in his paralyzed body. This memoir is inspiring and tear jerking. It was a best seller, although Bauby died days after its publication. Hollywood turned this into a feature film, see preview below.

The title comes from the experience of the mind vs. the body. " Something like a giant invisible diving bell holds my whole body prisoner... My diving bell becomes less oppressive, and my mind takes flight like a butterfly. There is so much to do. You can wander off in space or in time, set out for Tierra del Fuego or King Midas's court."

There is something sad and beautiful about being trapped in a body but free in one's own thoughts. The book is the last labor of an intelligent and witty writer who met an unfortunate end. I hope someday to read it in the original French.