Two months after his second marriage, at the height of his career as editor in chief of a British publishing house, not long into his 42nd year, Robert McCrum had a stroke. It had the immediate effect of paralyzing his left side, and the subsequent effect of sparking an identity crisis. This is the story of how he survived both, with the support of his wife (New York Times reporter Sarah Lyall) and friends (like Salman Rushdie and Kazuo Ishiguro). My Year Off: Recovering Life After a Stroke is a hopeful tale — these days he can walk unaided, speak almost normally, enjoy his baby daughter — but it isn't as searingly personal as similar memoirs. This stroke survivor is English, after all, so his stiff upper lip rarely quivers.

Introduction to the 10th Anniversary Edition

Introduction A Severe Insult to the Brain

1 One Fine Day

2 An Awfully Big Adventure

3 In the Blood

4 Brain Attack

5 My New Life

6 Sarah

7 'Robert McCrum Is Dead'

8 'Not a Drooling Vegetable'

9 Death and Dying

10 Better Dead

11 Deficks

12 Slowness

13 The Rapids

14 Seizing the Carp

15 An Aspirin and a Glass of Wine

16 Candlemas

Further Reading, Some Useful Addresses and-Acknowledgements