A review by sevenlefts
My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor

3.0

This book was very different than I imagined it -- which is more my problem than the author's! I got a lot out of her descriptions of the stroke, fascinated at how she could describe what was happening during a very traumatic event. However, I was a little dismayed that in one sentence much later in the book she implies that all of her memories of this event were accessed through analysis of some sort. For a book by a scientists, there was something unscientific about all of it.

Which is probably the point of the book. She goes to great lengths describing how her mind operates differently post-stroke than it did pre-stroke -- and how she embraces and accepts her new way of thinking. She got to do what most people don't: rebuild her brain. And because she had the insight of former owner during the process, she had more of an ability to choose what to keep and what to re-do. I find that frightening and amazing liberating at the same time.

A very interesting book from a quite unique perspective.