A Scar is Also Skin

by Ben Mckelvey

'A moving story of recovery and connection' - Johann Hari

'A beautiful exploration of how our scars, seen and unseen, shape us and connect us. Couldn’t put it down.' - Wil Anderson


For the first twenty-seven years of his life, Ben McKelvey didn't spend too much time thinking about his brain, nor much about trauma. He was fit, carefree and happy working as a magazine journalist, writing listicles and doing celebrity junket interviews.

Then one day, while boxing, he suffered a stroke. In the time it took for a left hook to be thrown, Ben disconnected from language and therefore the world. He wanted nothing more than to go back to normal life and, after a time, it looked like he had. He spoke again in a few days, read in a few weeks and then, in months, returned to his listicles and junkets. Only normal life no longer felt normal. Ben's brain had changed, and so had he.

Ben's stroke was followed a few years later by a startling heart attack. A crisis followed, and dangerous, painful and scarring. On an unsteady path of recovery, Ben started to question everything about his life. He wondered what makes us who we are, and what role family, fate and physiology plays. He wondered what a good life looks like.

While still weak, thin and questioning, a letter arrived from the Australian Defence Force. It was an invitation to embed with Australian forces in Iraq, and also an invitation to a new career and a calling, one that would allow Ben to ask deep questions about life, connection and the morality of people who have also visited the precarious edge of human experience.

Combining autobiography, reportage and science, Ben Mckelvey tells his personal story, along with research about psychology, physiology and neuropathology. He shares intimate stories about people who have dealt with illness or trauma and some who are moulding our understanding of ourselves. In the telling, Ben investigates trauma, change and resilience. This is a powerful book for anyone who has ever been broken, and hoped to find themselves remade.

Genres: Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

Published August 10, 2023

About the author

A Sydney-based writer and producer, Ben Mckelvey has written two bestsellers, and has been shortlisted for various major literary awards including the Australian Book Industry Awards, and the Victorian and Queensland Premier's Literary Awards.

Reviews

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

mckelvey’s experiences are unique and interesting to hear. i love the inclusion of scientific explanation when talking about trauma, stroke, and heart attack directly along side personal experience. his life as an australian journalist and his commentary of his personal medical history and political views as he aged was captivating. solid autobiography.

[Nell · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK this is like a 3.5-3.75, and it's because I am torn.

Is this book well written? Yes
Is it entertaining? Yes

So what's my issue? I think it's that it isn't what it appears to be advertising itself as. This is definitely a memoir, and McKelvey absolutely speaks about his stroke and heart attack, but that's mostly in like the first 25% of the book. And this is primarily what I wanted to read about.
It then tapers off into more about trauma, and McKelvey writing biographies and other books on traumatic upbringings and experiences of some thoroughly interesting men.

I obviously wanted more on McKelvey's experience with stroke at a young age, and hoped for some interesting investigations into different reasons or interviews with others in a similar boat, but that is not what this book is. It disappointed me, though it didn't negate his otherwise engrossing story weaving. I enjoyed listening to this, and am actually keen to read a few more of his works.

If you go into reading this with an open mind, you'll get something positive out of it.

[Alessio Cotroneo · Rating 3 out of 5]

When reading the front cover and blurb of this book, I assumed the book would be a memoir about Ben’s Stroke, Heart Attack and his recovery. Once reading, I found it was more heavily focused on World Wars, which I have no interest in reading. I was quite disappointed, but was still impressed with the way he writes.

I would have enjoyed it if it focused more on his life and his recovery after the medical events, but overall an okay book.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off great , was quite informative, feel like it was a book showcasing his other books, they do sound great. I loved the ending just not what I thought the book would be but I do look forward to reading his other books.

[Inna Lieb]

Disappointing

[Ben Mckelvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a letter to my daughter, but hope you enjoy it also

[Tiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book started really interestingly grabbing my attention with stories of Ben's early years and experience a stroke and heart attack within very interesting time working at Ralph. I believe this was a great way to start as it hooked me in straight away and I was curious to keep writing. I loved the insight into a man in his 20's, his emotions and experiences and how men are depicted in the media and attitudes that are expected, drilled in or fantasied as "being a male".
I felt the book took a turn halfway through discussing his other books he has written and experiences around them particularly about war which I personally wasn't as enthused about and felt the book took a very different turn to what I expected. Instead of a medical story I expected, I was met with discussion of war, trauma and veterans he interviewed and worked to write their stories. I do believe this book helped widen my world view in an unexpected way. I felt the ending of the book came back to be similar to how the book started, nicely ending the book in the same voice as the start. Did feel a little like reading a different book in the middle. I did thoroughly enjoy this book regardless.