Blindsight

by Chris Colin, The Atavist (Editor)

In March of 1994, Simon Lewis was a Hollywood man on the rise. He had started in the film industry as a lawyer and worked his way up to become a big-budget studio producer. He’d helped shepherd one of the most successful comedies in film history. He’d married the love of his life. And then one night, in a few seconds, everything changed.

In Blindsight, author Chris Colin unspools the remarkable true story of a horrific accident and the life that followed it. A killer at large. Unlikely twists of fate. Miraculous medical oddities. Otherworldly perceptions. Lewis's is a tale of one man’s love and loss, and of the strange turns awaiting a life remade.

38 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 24, 2011

Reviews

[Kent Winward · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short biographic essay on Simon Lewis, the Hollywood producer of "Look Who's Talking", who was severally injured and brain damaged in an automobile accident. As a materialist, who finds our most meaningful parts of existence housed in the brain, I'm still in awe of how the physical brain dictates so much of who we are and despite that fact, how mysterious and wonderful life can be.

[X · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the style of writing.

Book left with more questions than answers.

Premature writing of the story of Lewis as he haven't reached post accident level of ripeness.

The ability of the writer to be involved in his day to day life seemed to elevate the book to 3 stars otherwise it would have been a lame 2 stars one.

[Lisa Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

A kindle single. A true story that is longer than a magazine article, but shorter than a regular book. Four stars for good portrayal of Simon Lewis's life and information about traumatic brain injury and blindsight. It felt like a good magazine article.

Recommended for those who deal with anyone with brain injuries as it gives an internal view into their world's new mindset. Quote: With all internal regulators of my brain damaged, I felt everything simultaneously.

A Hollywood film producer is in a car week. Simon regains his IQ, but retained a strange way of processing the world.
Information gleaned from the book regarding brain injury:
Portrayal of traumatic brain injury as "as slope of consciousness"
Flat time - loss of chronological distinguishment
Visual impairment
Blindsight - partly blind, but could see through those blind spots by sending informatin through the brain stem; visual information bypassed his conscious mind and went straight to his subconscious.
Unusual symptoms from the brain injury. Quote from the writer, Chris Colin about Simon, "What life has in store for him isn't clear. But he seems to accept this."

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a Kindle Single, so it was very short. That being said, you really can't ask for a ton of detail. Still, it was not what I expected. I thought that the author would describe Simon's recovery a bit more, especially since it was a 17+ year recovery. Instead, the story fastforwarded through most of that, and was more about Simon's strange view of the world after & his attempt at returning to the film industry. The ending was really the biggest disappointment, but the whole thing was enough to peek my interest. Now I'm intrigued enough to read the nearly 400 page book that Simon published about his accident & the 20 years that followed, especially since there is mention of the strange parallel to Tom Shadyac's story, who I saw on Oprah last year.

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Kindle single about the movie producer Simon Lewis and his tragic car accident that killed his wife and left him with traumatic brain injury. The author meets with Lewis over the years and learns about his new non-Hollywood life and helps Lewis question whether he will return to Hollywood. The story leaves the reader not knowing if Lewis ever returns. I don't know enough about Simon Lewis to know if he worked on anything after his first major hit, out just before his accident, Look Who's Talking.

[Elise Swenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A biography of a Hollywood producer (Look who's Talking) who was in a horrific car accident. It took 15 years to recover (more than a month in a coma and lost 1/3 of his brain). He is productive and has some remarkable abilities now, one being "blindsight". He has no conscious vision but his subconscious can see things (obstacles in his way). He also experiences "flat time", which is no linear process of events - such as being shown a picture of a glass on a table and a picture of a glass broken on the floor. Which happened first? He cannot tell. Interesting read.

[Jas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read, and based on a true story. However I felt the story lacked detail, with huge chunks of time not accounted for in his recovery. I also would have liked to read more about the impact on others around the main character, and what actually was made post accident & the resulting success or otherwise.

[Michelle B · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible, boring, pointless book.