My Year Off

Robert McCrum awoke one morning to find himself paralyzed down his left side - he had suffered a massive stroke. His life having irrevocably changed, medicine being able to do nothing, and being faced with the enforced solitude of convalescence, he embarked on a journey of discovery.

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On the morning of July 29 1995 Robert McCrum, 42, newly married and at the top of his profession, woke up to find himself totally paralyzed on his left side. He had suffered a massive stroke, and in the weeks to come he would have to face the reality that his life had changed irrevocably, and that medical science, maddeningly, could neither pinpoint the cause of his illness nor offer any guarantees of recovery. Faced with the enforced solitude of convalescence, Robert embarked on a journey of discovery, both about himself and about the illness that had so dramatically affected his everyday life.