After a full-throttle brain bleed at the age of twenty-five, 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 readers 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 reader 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.
"First-time author Rajamani delivers a fascinating look at his life and his recovery as a brain-injury patient that is both heartbreaking and uplifting."
Publishers Weekly
"In this frank and witty account of his own brain 'explosion,' Rajamani describes in vivid detail the circumstances leading to the injury and its devastating aftermath on both his family and himself…With disarming drollery, the author also recounts his racism-tainted upbringing as an Indian American in white-dominated suburban Chicago. Shedding much-needed light on a little-known medical trauma, R
