What do you think?
Rate this book
Excuse Me, My Brains Have Stepped Out
***BASED ON A TRUE STORY | WRITTEN IN THE FORM OF LETTERS TO ANYA'S FATHER***
Anya Michaels is having the time of her life. She has the man of her dreams by her side. She has graduated at the top of her class. She has the job others were lining up for. Between late night drinks at her favourite bar and fancy dinners at the most expensive restaurants, she has a string of adoring friends. Everything changes when she hears the dreaded words, "You are sick."
Being diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder, her world starts to fall apart, one piece at a time. Now dumped, her four year relationship is nothing but a memory filled with pictures, thoughts and a very broken heart. Her job becomes an even further challenge as she tries to hide her condition. Her friends suddenly have more important things to do, what is a party without a party girl? Perfect could not crumble any faster.
Soon, caught between situations, people and pieces of life that she never dreamed of planning for herself, Anya begins to wonder if her brain condition is all that bad. As she absorbs the changes in her life and realization sets in, she begins to wonder if she is the only one Excuse Me, My Brains Have Stepped Out.
This book uses British spelling.
(20% of royalties will be donated to the National Organisation of Rare Disorders)
Anya Michaels is having the time of her life. She has the man of her dreams by her side. She has graduated at the top of her class. She has the job others were lining up for. Between late night drinks at her favourite bar and fancy dinners at the most expensive restaurants, she has a string of adoring friends. Everything changes when she hears the dreaded words, "You are sick."
Being diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder, her world starts to fall apart, one piece at a time. Now dumped, her four year relationship is nothing but a memory filled with pictures, thoughts and a very broken heart. Her job becomes an even further challenge as she tries to hide her condition. Her friends suddenly have more important things to do, what is a party without a party girl? Perfect could not crumble any faster.
Soon, caught between situations, people and pieces of life that she never dreamed of planning for herself, Anya begins to wonder if her brain condition is all that bad. As she absorbs the changes in her life and realization sets in, she begins to wonder if she is the only one Excuse Me, My Brains Have Stepped Out.
This book uses British spelling.
(20% of royalties will be donated to the National Organisation of Rare Disorders)
190 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 11, 2011
73 people are currently reading
994 people want to read
About the author
Pandora Poikilos
12 books351 followersPandora Poikilos has been writing for more than 10 years for various media which include newspapers, radio, television and various websites.
A social media enthusiast who is passionate about blogging and finding her way around the virtual world, she wills away time in the real world by reading, writing and people watching.
If you had to describe yourself using three words, it would be
- Damaged goods, Quirky, Loving.
You write so much about inspiration, who is the one person who has inspired you the most?
- Steve Jobs, Apple
What’s the ideal dream job for you?
- What I have right now. To write.
More about Pandora Poikilos.
Other places we can meet ...
facebook - pandorapoikilos
google talk - pandorapoikilos
A social media enthusiast who is passionate about blogging and finding her way around the virtual world, she wills away time in the real world by reading, writing and people watching.
If you had to describe yourself using three words, it would be
- Damaged goods, Quirky, Loving.
You write so much about inspiration, who is the one person who has inspired you the most?
- Steve Jobs, Apple
What’s the ideal dream job for you?
- What I have right now. To write.
More about Pandora Poikilos.
Other places we can meet ...
facebook - pandorapoikilos
google talk - pandorapoikilos
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
January 1, 2012
After reading the book description, I was expecting this to be a heavy, emotional story about a woman who was diagnosed with a neurological disorder. I thought it would follow her through how she was diagnosed, her treatment, and outcome. What I got was a series of short diary-like entries of a woman filing what felt like complaints about everything from social networking to abuse, but very little about the disease or her experiences through it. It was really hard to get into for that reason. You know she has this serious and rare disorder, but the character in the book could have had something as simple as a common cold for how un-related the disorder was to the diary entries. The epilogue was good, only in that it gave a creative page or two saying what ultimately happened to the woman. But other than that, it was really hard to get through, because I was bored the whole time and couldn't find myself sympathizing for her at all. It seemed too much like a series of complaints about the world, and not even organized into a story. This was horrible, at least I thought so.
October 31, 2011
Anya Michaels story of the changes that happen in the sudden discovery that she is sick with a rare neurological disorder, is a moving, emotional, sometimes sad, often human and compassionate novel. It hasn't been edited to a polish and yet it is compelling enough to hold ones attention through the moments when you stumble and have to look again at the text. It is written in odd little blocks of poetry and letters and essays that seem as if each one could stand alone, so that at times I just let the book fall open where it would and read whatever page it happened to land on, and always found something worth reading. I don't feel like I just finished a novel, but rather like I went stirring around through Anya's private papers, glimpsing her letters to her Dad, her personal poetry, a started and unfinished diary entry. I am glad that I read this book and the lingering emotions hit me hard because my Mother-In-law has this same neurological condition, but the personality of Anya shines through and creates such a connection that anyone who has ever been in pain and felt alone and confused will relate.
February 8, 2012
I really should have known this book wasn't going to be good when I had figured out the big "surprise" by page three. When I originally downloaded this book I thought I was going to get this really heart-wrenching story about a woman dealing with her brain disease. Instead, I got a woman giving her condescending thoughts to the world.
Really,I didn't have THAT much of a problem with it at first. Anya is diagnosed with a brain disease. So, she starts writing letters to her dad about all the things she can't stand about the world.
Now, some of them are perfectly valid. The boyfriend who cheats on you or the significant other who abuses you or how because you have a incurable disease, you're treated different including losing your job over and over, being betrayed by "friends" and having people spread misconceptions about you. There's even one point where she mentions that she has a hard time showing sympathy for people who complain about headaches because of the excrutiating pain she suffers from her brain condition (something I really related to because I constantly suffer from severe, crippling migraines. I can't stand when people complain of their pansy headaches and THEN refuse to even take any medicine.)
But then she complains about things that really just seem like her, well, complaining and not imparting any sort of words of wisdom on anyone. Like one story is about how people should be controlling their kids in public. Honestly? You don't know the situation or what's happen and she basically takes on this idea that there should be no kids at all in public places. She also talks about the person who sits there and tells you about all this advice they have for you and how you could be doing things better, which I think is just an ironic thing to talk about because, for all intents and purposes, that's exactly what's going on in this book.
The other HUGE thing that annoyed me was that the big surprise for this book was that the father that Anya was writing to the whole book was not alive. He had died when she was three. Well, guess what? I wasn't surprised. I had figured it out in about the second letter that she had written to her dad and the more she wrote, the more painfully obvious it became that he was no longer living.
The only thing that kind of surprised me was that, in the end, Anya died but I came to dislike her so much that I didn't really care. And the other thing is that I don't really know what caused her death. Did she die of old age, her disease, what? When I find out she's dead I kind of don't care and I have no emotional response to it.
The other thing I have a huge problem with is that Anya tells us that she lost her father when she was three. Three! I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I remember very little from when I was three years old. I have a hard time believing that she had this crazy strong relationship with her father that she only knew for three years!
Overall, I was not impressed. I thought I was going to see a woman dealing with her disease, dealing with how her life was changing around her. Instead I got a woman bitching about all the things in life that she didn't like.
Really,I didn't have THAT much of a problem with it at first. Anya is diagnosed with a brain disease. So, she starts writing letters to her dad about all the things she can't stand about the world.
Now, some of them are perfectly valid. The boyfriend who cheats on you or the significant other who abuses you or how because you have a incurable disease, you're treated different including losing your job over and over, being betrayed by "friends" and having people spread misconceptions about you. There's even one point where she mentions that she has a hard time showing sympathy for people who complain about headaches because of the excrutiating pain she suffers from her brain condition (something I really related to because I constantly suffer from severe, crippling migraines. I can't stand when people complain of their pansy headaches and THEN refuse to even take any medicine.)
But then she complains about things that really just seem like her, well, complaining and not imparting any sort of words of wisdom on anyone. Like one story is about how people should be controlling their kids in public. Honestly? You don't know the situation or what's happen and she basically takes on this idea that there should be no kids at all in public places. She also talks about the person who sits there and tells you about all this advice they have for you and how you could be doing things better, which I think is just an ironic thing to talk about because, for all intents and purposes, that's exactly what's going on in this book.
The other HUGE thing that annoyed me was that the big surprise for this book was that the father that Anya was writing to the whole book was not alive. He had died when she was three. Well, guess what? I wasn't surprised. I had figured it out in about the second letter that she had written to her dad and the more she wrote, the more painfully obvious it became that he was no longer living.
The only thing that kind of surprised me was that, in the end, Anya died but I came to dislike her so much that I didn't really care. And the other thing is that I don't really know what caused her death. Did she die of old age, her disease, what? When I find out she's dead I kind of don't care and I have no emotional response to it.
The other thing I have a huge problem with is that Anya tells us that she lost her father when she was three. Three! I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I remember very little from when I was three years old. I have a hard time believing that she had this crazy strong relationship with her father that she only knew for three years!
Overall, I was not impressed. I thought I was going to see a woman dealing with her disease, dealing with how her life was changing around her. Instead I got a woman bitching about all the things in life that she didn't like.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 25, 2013
I have to admit, the beginning of the book seemed to ramble on and on about things that did not connect to the story. I found this distracting, I kept trying to figure out when everything was going to come together, but it never did in the way I was expecting. The bounce from subject to subject was also a bit random and difficult to follow at points. In my opinion there was not much of a story line and I was constantly waiting for one to appear. Also, the synopsis I read previous to starting this book, seemed to be describing a completely different book. I was expecting something that never came.
I wasn't sure what to expect, and I almost put the book down after the first few chapters, but I kept on, and found this to be quite an interesting book.
Basically this is a book filled with a collection of letters from a woman suffering from a rare brain condition, and her father. They contained a lot of complaining about injustice and cruelty. Some of the complaints were completely understandable, while others seemed quite over dramatized. By the end of the book, I had grown to feel impartial to Anya, but was still curious to see how her life planned out. I was so disappointed when a lot of my questions I had were never answered.
Overall this was not an impressive book. I mainly read it to get to the end, but even that was pointless since the ending seemed to make Anya look even more dramatic and mysterious. I would rate this book a 2/5.
I wasn't sure what to expect, and I almost put the book down after the first few chapters, but I kept on, and found this to be quite an interesting book.
Basically this is a book filled with a collection of letters from a woman suffering from a rare brain condition, and her father. They contained a lot of complaining about injustice and cruelty. Some of the complaints were completely understandable, while others seemed quite over dramatized. By the end of the book, I had grown to feel impartial to Anya, but was still curious to see how her life planned out. I was so disappointed when a lot of my questions I had were never answered.
Overall this was not an impressive book. I mainly read it to get to the end, but even that was pointless since the ending seemed to make Anya look even more dramatic and mysterious. I would rate this book a 2/5.
October 23, 2011
This book, described and promoted as 'Women's Fiction', reads like a memoir. This, together with information given me in a blog interview with the author (use the link if you wish to read it: http://stuartaken.blogspot.com/2011/0... ), leads me to believe it's a fictionalised account of real events. It's not uncommon, of course, for writers to present their life stories as fiction and, as often as not, it's done to protect those they grew up with. All that said, this novel reads like a life story.
It's presented largely as a series of letters to the narrator's father. These include hints at a past we never fully learn but which clearly contains distressing events. The letters also include passages of opinion on various aspects of humanity, relationships and life in general. It's an interesting device and, for the most part, works well in the context of the book. There were times, however, when I found the authorial voice a little intrusive and sometimes tiresome.
There are editing deficiencies in the text, which is unfortunately peppered with instances of tense change and other grammatical errors. This should have rendered the book unreadable for me, since I find such presentation very irritating, believing that writers should learn the rules before going on to break them. It's testament to the quality of the content that the faults didn't stop me reading to the end.
The emotional journey we take with the narrator is profound, disturbing, difficult and, uplifting. This isn't a story full of action; there's no apparent sequence of events and no plot. This is an exposition of the very significant barriers and obstructions to normal life faced by an individual suffering from Intracranial Hypertension; a rare brain condition. Had the author merely set out what had happened to Anya, the subject of the story, it would've probably resulted in a turgid text. But her presentation of events through intimate and touching letters to Anya's father, in spite of occasional passages where she tells him things he already knows, renders the tale into a moving and easily digested account.
Anya complains about those who say they 'understand' her situation, suggesting that such understanding can be achieved only through similar suffering. I 'understand' her view on that topic. But feel I have some, albeit small, understanding of aspects of her condition and her fight to achieve normality. Having suffered ME/CFS for eight years (now recovered), I know how limiting certain conditions can be and I commend her efforts, courage and sheer determination in completing what must have been a very demanding undertaking.
This is a book that some will find difficult, some won't finish, but which cannot fail to move those who take the trouble to accompany Anya on her journey, against seemingly impossible odds, toward a destination that will leave them in a better place than they started. Uplifting and inspiring.
It's presented largely as a series of letters to the narrator's father. These include hints at a past we never fully learn but which clearly contains distressing events. The letters also include passages of opinion on various aspects of humanity, relationships and life in general. It's an interesting device and, for the most part, works well in the context of the book. There were times, however, when I found the authorial voice a little intrusive and sometimes tiresome.
There are editing deficiencies in the text, which is unfortunately peppered with instances of tense change and other grammatical errors. This should have rendered the book unreadable for me, since I find such presentation very irritating, believing that writers should learn the rules before going on to break them. It's testament to the quality of the content that the faults didn't stop me reading to the end.
The emotional journey we take with the narrator is profound, disturbing, difficult and, uplifting. This isn't a story full of action; there's no apparent sequence of events and no plot. This is an exposition of the very significant barriers and obstructions to normal life faced by an individual suffering from Intracranial Hypertension; a rare brain condition. Had the author merely set out what had happened to Anya, the subject of the story, it would've probably resulted in a turgid text. But her presentation of events through intimate and touching letters to Anya's father, in spite of occasional passages where she tells him things he already knows, renders the tale into a moving and easily digested account.
Anya complains about those who say they 'understand' her situation, suggesting that such understanding can be achieved only through similar suffering. I 'understand' her view on that topic. But feel I have some, albeit small, understanding of aspects of her condition and her fight to achieve normality. Having suffered ME/CFS for eight years (now recovered), I know how limiting certain conditions can be and I commend her efforts, courage and sheer determination in completing what must have been a very demanding undertaking.
This is a book that some will find difficult, some won't finish, but which cannot fail to move those who take the trouble to accompany Anya on her journey, against seemingly impossible odds, toward a destination that will leave them in a better place than they started. Uplifting and inspiring.
April 29, 2012
First and foremost I have to say that the protagonist was endlessly going on about seemingly random stuff that at least I could not connect to her most of the time. Secondly, at more than one point I was asking myself the question "How did she get from her last subject to this one?!". It just didn't make sense to me.
It was a series of letters to her father and yes, sometimes one could see that the topic was something that had happened to her in the past - but most of the time that wasn't so. She was just so vague, never really telling the story of her life, sometimes hinting but most of the time just randomly dropping topics and views about them.
Moreover, all of a sudden the protagonist seems to have found God. Not a surprise considering that she is seriously ill. Still, something I categorically don't support.
Also, in more than one chapter she was going on and on about something, repeating herself again and again - maybe the author was doing that on purpose because of the brain condition the protagonist had (to make it more realistic), but it wasn't improving the book unfortunately.
All in all, the story had some lines where I found my own thoughts and views but I just couldn't see where it was heading which led to the point where I was skipping half the book because I just couldn't take it anymore - and I didn't feel as if I had missed anything because of it, which is very sad. The end was then also highly unsatisfying. Thus, 2 stars are very generous! :-(
It was a series of letters to her father and yes, sometimes one could see that the topic was something that had happened to her in the past - but most of the time that wasn't so. She was just so vague, never really telling the story of her life, sometimes hinting but most of the time just randomly dropping topics and views about them.
Moreover, all of a sudden the protagonist seems to have found God. Not a surprise considering that she is seriously ill. Still, something I categorically don't support.
Also, in more than one chapter she was going on and on about something, repeating herself again and again - maybe the author was doing that on purpose because of the brain condition the protagonist had (to make it more realistic), but it wasn't improving the book unfortunately.
All in all, the story had some lines where I found my own thoughts and views but I just couldn't see where it was heading which led to the point where I was skipping half the book because I just couldn't take it anymore - and I didn't feel as if I had missed anything because of it, which is very sad. The end was then also highly unsatisfying. Thus, 2 stars are very generous! :-(
October 10, 2014
Anya finds out that she has a rare brain disorder and her world is suddenly changed. She begins writing letters to her dad about her thoughts. These thoughts are all across the board as far as subject, but also deal with her feelings about her disorder.
This book is written in a similar style to Daddy Long Legs and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society in that the story is told through letters. The rest of her style is completely different, but I noticed the similarities. Some readers might get frustrated with this style, but I've always enjoyed it.
Check out this book if you want to think, ponder and question.
I receieved this book free of charge in exchange for my honest review.
This book is written in a similar style to Daddy Long Legs and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society in that the story is told through letters. The rest of her style is completely different, but I noticed the similarities. Some readers might get frustrated with this style, but I've always enjoyed it.
Check out this book if you want to think, ponder and question.
I receieved this book free of charge in exchange for my honest review.
September 12, 2022
Basically, a 174 page lecture by a whiny woman who thinks she knows it all, while at the same time, criticizing those who she thinks know it all. It would be one thing if her thoughts were anything profound or unique but it's basically platitudes you could find in any self help book-if you are being abused, leave. Gossip is bad. Having a chronic illness is hard. Ugh.
January 4, 2012
Not my cup of tea and not what I was expecting. Although I have had some of the same thoughts about people not using their brains for good purposes, I found the chapters to be too much complaining about how other people were living their lives or the injustices that they have done. Also, there were several editing errors which I found annoying. Guess I thought this book would be more about having a brain disorder and how Anya deals with it on a day to day basis. I was going to give this one star, but I liked how the beginning and ending were connected and the overall message of the book was a good one.
March 13, 2012
This book is not quite what you might expect from the description. There isn't much of a story line to speak of - just a collection of letters from a woman suffering from a rare brain condition to her (presumably) dead father. The letters contain lessons learned and personal experiences with various characters throughout life, illness, surgery and recovery, The only things saving this book from 1 star is that some of the gems she shares are truly pearls of wisdom.
Bits of wisdom notwithstanding, Poikilos failed to keep my interest. I skipped most of the middle bits of the story. If I were you, I'd pass on this title.
Bits of wisdom notwithstanding, Poikilos failed to keep my interest. I skipped most of the middle bits of the story. If I were you, I'd pass on this title.
March 17, 2013
I'm torn on my thoughts about this book. I read it in a day, so it's an easy read. It kept my attention, but I'm not sure why! I agree with an earlier reader who said the book didn't at all match the blurb about it. I disagree with a previous reader who commented that it had been well edited. I found numerous grammatical, punctuation and other errors throughout the book that bothered me (but then I do some editing as a side job, so maybe I'm just more aware of that sort of thing). If this is the second edition, I can only imagine that the first edition was even worse! It was an okay book, but not at all what I expected.
Read
January 16, 2013I got a third of the way through the book and kept wondering when the story would start. It had a rambling written-letter format that didn’t really convey a plot. It was mostly cliched phrases and ideas like living life to its fullest and accepting and loving what you have. Those are all great themes, but I prefer to have those messages subtly shown through action and change.
I liked the summary, and was expecting a tear-causing emotional story. Unfortunately, what I got was bored and annoyed. So I had to just stop reading.
I liked the summary, and was expecting a tear-causing emotional story. Unfortunately, what I got was bored and annoyed. So I had to just stop reading.
December 31, 2011
Not what I was expecting. I was expecting a fictitious cohesive story about a woman struggling with a rare disease and seeing how it affects her and the people around her. I wasn't expecting a litany of pseudo-philosophical letters to her dad about everything and everyone, but that's what I got.
Had I been in another mood, I might have enjoyed this book more, but as is I didn't really enjoy it. I especially didn't like the parts that made me wonder whether I was reading about a character or the author. There was, however, a nice reference to wikipedia in the end.
Had I been in another mood, I might have enjoyed this book more, but as is I didn't really enjoy it. I especially didn't like the parts that made me wonder whether I was reading about a character or the author. There was, however, a nice reference to wikipedia in the end.
February 12, 2012
I feel like this book isn't nearly as good as it could have been. I never really connected with the main character who is telling the story, Anya. She is experiencing a rare neurological disease and this book is a series of diary entries. The reader gets to learn a great deal about what is bothering Anya, such as social networking, but we never get a close look into what her life is really like while experiencing her illness. All in all, I found it to be a quick, mildly interesting story.
July 12, 2015
My Kindle says I made it to 13% before I reached my tolerance for righteous indignation. I wonder if the author is exacting literary revenge on people who have wronged her in the past because it seems like this book is a thinly veiled criticism of other people's bad behavior, at least as far as I read. I may, however, be jaded since everyone else seems to have liked it.
May 12, 2013
I read this because it was about a woman with a rare disease--different than what killed my husband, but similar in how unfamiliar it is to most people. I wanted to like the book, but found it dragged on and on. There are some good lessons here, but nothing we haven't heard before.
June 1, 2016
I liked the beginning, liked the ending but the middle left much to be desired. It felt like a diary rather than a story. Just not for me I guess.
December 16, 2011
Not impressed. Just cannot get into it. Don't like the feel sorry for yourself, everybody using was using her attitude.
July 19, 2016
The low rating is simply for the fact that this was not my cup of tea. I have friends who would completely disagree with this rating.
January 31, 2013
Didn't even bother to finish it. I'm sorry the woman was deathly ill, but that doesn't make her a good writer. Whine, whine, whine... grated on my nerves.
January 3, 2013
For some reason, I just couldn't get into this story. The description sounded so promising, but the writing just didn't capture my attention.
March 16, 2013
I read about 20% of this book before I gave up and decided not to waste anymore time on it! Very disappointed and bored by it.
March 9, 2013
This book was terrible , it was a complete book of constant complaining of
Everything under the sun and then some...
Everything under the sun and then some...
Read
April 3, 2013Shelving this book. Just cannot get into it. Will try again later.
March 28, 2013
Just could not get into this book. It may get better but I only got through half of it. On to a better book.
October 26, 2013
I didn't even bother finishing it, the writing was mediocre and the story didn't hold my attention past the second chapter...
March 13, 2020
One long rant broken up into short diary type entries.
July 23, 2022
Quit reading, couldn't get into it.
September 11, 2012
I will admit that this was not a favorite book of mine on many levels, but I truly felt it deserved a 4-star rating for several reasons. This is a different sort of book than you will probably ever read, and if you don't sit down and truly digest it, you are sure to miss some very important messages within the book.
The style in which this story is told is very unique. Anya writes all of her thoughts and ideas during this horrific time in her life as letters to her father. I will not provide spoilers, but it is clear that her father is the man with whom she shared a bond that transcended time and space. These letters are sweet, saucy, acrid, and brutally honest.
Poor Anya is facing a rare illness about which most know nothing. She makes some observations about the world in a way that few of us will contemplate saying or thinking. It seemed so callous and caustic, but as I continued to read, I realized that this author allowed her character to make observations about the world that one never voices. Her character continues to point out how her brain issue is nothing compared to a world where people refuse to use their brains in everyday life. I began to realize just how naive and trusting I am.
I was glad that profanity was nonexistent (from what I remember), and no sex acts were detailed. It is clear that Anya has a religious background, but I cannot say that she is truly a follower of Christ. Even at the end. But I will say that Anya gets the chance to "live like she was dying." If only we would all be brave enough to live every day like this!
I was glad the book was short because as insightful as it is, I found my mind wandering now and then just because the letters were so poignant. I would have loved to get more than just Anya's perspective in the book. But I guess that Anya was essentially deserted by everyone, so having another perspective would have been challenging. But I think it could have made te story a bit more interesting.
I cannot imagine having to go through a physical issue like this, and by reading this book, I got a glimpse into the lives and minds of those with a debilitating disease. If you would like something deep and different, use your brains and get this book!
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not finacially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.
The style in which this story is told is very unique. Anya writes all of her thoughts and ideas during this horrific time in her life as letters to her father. I will not provide spoilers, but it is clear that her father is the man with whom she shared a bond that transcended time and space. These letters are sweet, saucy, acrid, and brutally honest.
Poor Anya is facing a rare illness about which most know nothing. She makes some observations about the world in a way that few of us will contemplate saying or thinking. It seemed so callous and caustic, but as I continued to read, I realized that this author allowed her character to make observations about the world that one never voices. Her character continues to point out how her brain issue is nothing compared to a world where people refuse to use their brains in everyday life. I began to realize just how naive and trusting I am.
I was glad that profanity was nonexistent (from what I remember), and no sex acts were detailed. It is clear that Anya has a religious background, but I cannot say that she is truly a follower of Christ. Even at the end. But I will say that Anya gets the chance to "live like she was dying." If only we would all be brave enough to live every day like this!
I was glad the book was short because as insightful as it is, I found my mind wandering now and then just because the letters were so poignant. I would have loved to get more than just Anya's perspective in the book. But I guess that Anya was essentially deserted by everyone, so having another perspective would have been challenging. But I think it could have made te story a bit more interesting.
I cannot imagine having to go through a physical issue like this, and by reading this book, I got a glimpse into the lives and minds of those with a debilitating disease. If you would like something deep and different, use your brains and get this book!
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not finacially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.
July 17, 2012
A passion for reading means that you search the world over for books that heighten the spectrum of emotion, experience, and the human condition. You want so badly to be absorbed into a story so raw and so powerful that you're literally just sucked into the tightest spaces between the words. "Excuse Me, My Brains Have Stepped Out" by Pandora Poikilos did that for me. Who knew that a title so breezy and humor-laden would suck me in so aggressively and unrelentingly? And to think I almost didn't read it. As a dedicated Oliver Sacks fan and someone who has a keen interest in research on (and experiences with) neurological disorders, this book unexpectedly floated into my GoodReads search recommendations. The book's description and storyline piqued my interest, but I didn't expect to start and finish it on the same day GoodReads introduced it to me. I figured I'd probably like Anya Michaels, the main character, but I didn't realize how much she'd come to mean to me.
Right away, the book plunges you right into the wrenching core of Anya's sudden diagnosis of intracranial hypertension. Such is the start of the total upheaval of everything meaningful and significant in Anya's life, and we are whisked through the terror - and, ultimately, the hope - of losing or being terrified of losing everything that has ever mattered: health, family, love, stability, a future of promise and intent. The journey winds its way through a series of writings to Anya's father, a somewhat-mystery-clad figure whose own significance is slowly revealed through a building of hints, loving disclosures, and (at the end) the ultimate revelation. Because our lens into Anya's life is so deeply rooted, we forego cheap thrills and one-dimensional storylines and instead soar headlong through the details of love, heartbreak, fear, desolation, and, ultimately, overcoming life's diversities through love and the strength of one's character. The author threads these moments of experience into a cloth of realism and gripping rawness without releasing the hope that pervades and heals, and without sacrificing an appreciation for the wit and humor that sears Anya into flesh and makes her all the more real.
Right away, the book plunges you right into the wrenching core of Anya's sudden diagnosis of intracranial hypertension. Such is the start of the total upheaval of everything meaningful and significant in Anya's life, and we are whisked through the terror - and, ultimately, the hope - of losing or being terrified of losing everything that has ever mattered: health, family, love, stability, a future of promise and intent. The journey winds its way through a series of writings to Anya's father, a somewhat-mystery-clad figure whose own significance is slowly revealed through a building of hints, loving disclosures, and (at the end) the ultimate revelation. Because our lens into Anya's life is so deeply rooted, we forego cheap thrills and one-dimensional storylines and instead soar headlong through the details of love, heartbreak, fear, desolation, and, ultimately, overcoming life's diversities through love and the strength of one's character. The author threads these moments of experience into a cloth of realism and gripping rawness without releasing the hope that pervades and heals, and without sacrificing an appreciation for the wit and humor that sears Anya into flesh and makes her all the more real.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews