The Day My Brain Exploded
By Ashok Rajamani
Read by the author
Listening length: 5 hours, 53 minutes
Published: January 9, 2015
My review 4 out of 5 stars
Read for my March 2023 Reading challenge, bonus prompt number 4: disabled author for National Disabilities Awareness Month. Mr Rajamani is partially blind and suffers from epilepsy as a result of his TBI.
After a full-throttle brain bleed at the age of 25, Ashok Rajamani, a first-generation Indian American, had to relearn everything: how to eat, how to walk and speak, even things as basic as his sexual orientation. With humor and insight, he describes the events of that day - his brain exploded just before his brother's wedding - as well as the long, difficult recovery period. In the process, he introduces listeners to his family - his principal support group, as well as a constant source of frustration and amazement.
Irreverent, coruscating, angry, at times shocking but always revelatory, his memoir takes the listener into unfamiliar territory, much like the experience Alice had when she fell down the rabbit hole. That he lived to tell the story is miraculous; that he tells it with such aplomb is simply remarkable.
More than a decade later he has finally reestablished a productive artistic life for himself, still dealing with the effects of his injury - life-long half-blindness and epilepsy - but forging ahead as a survivor dedicated to helping others who have suffered a similar catastrophe.
Hearing stories of miraculous survival has always been something that I love hearing. This story is now one I can add to that list. Though a start I wasn't quite expecting, this book had me hooked. The day of his brother's wedding, Rajamani suffers a "full-throttle brain bleed." His story has the perfect mix of medical and personal stories in it. My heart broke while hearing about some of the treatment he suffered while during his initial hospitalization. Then seeing his connections with other TBI sufferers was just remarkable. I loved hearing this book from his voice too, as I listened to the audiobook. It was a quick listen and quite informative. Four stars from me.
After a full-throttle brain bleed at the age of 25, Ashok Rajamani, a first-generation Indian American, had to relearn everything: how to eat, how to walk and speak, even things as basic as his sexual orientation. With humor and insight, he describes the events of that day - his brain exploded just before his brother's wedding - as well as the long, difficult recovery period. In the process, he introduces listeners to his family - his principal support group, as well as a constant source of frustration and amazement.
Irreverent, coruscating, angry, at times shocking but always revelatory, his memoir takes the listener into unfamiliar territory, much like the experience Alice had when she fell down the rabbit hole. That he lived to tell the story is miraculous; that he tells it with such aplomb is simply remarkable.
More than a decade later he has finally reestablished a productive artistic life for himself, still dealing with the effects of his injury - life-long half-blindness and epilepsy - but forging ahead as a survivor dedicated to helping others who have suffered a similar catastrophe.
Hearing stories of miraculous survival has always been something that I love hearing. This story is now one I can add to that list. Though a start I wasn't quite expecting, this book had me hooked. The day of his brother's wedding, Rajamani suffers a "full-throttle brain bleed." His story has the perfect mix of medical and personal stories in it. My heart broke while hearing about some of the treatment he suffered while during his initial hospitalization. Then seeing his connections with other TBI sufferers was just remarkable. I loved hearing this book from his voice too, as I listened to the audiobook. It was a quick listen and quite informative. Four stars from me.
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