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Getting Better
The stunning new memoir from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Many Different Kinds of Love
A Guardian book of 2023
A BBC book of 2023
In our lives, terrible things may happen. Michael Rosen has grieved the loss of a child, lived with debilitating chronic illness, and faced death itself when seriously unwell in hospital. In spite of this he has survived, and has even learned to find joy in life in the aftermath of tragedy.
In Getting Better , he shares his story and the lessons he has learned along the way. Exploring the roles that trauma and grief have played in his own life, Michael investigates the road to recovery, asking how we can find it within ourselves to live well again after - or even during - the darkest times of our lives. Moving and insightful, Getting Better is an essential companion for anyone who has loved and lost, or struggled and survived.
A Guardian book of 2023
A BBC book of 2023
In our lives, terrible things may happen. Michael Rosen has grieved the loss of a child, lived with debilitating chronic illness, and faced death itself when seriously unwell in hospital. In spite of this he has survived, and has even learned to find joy in life in the aftermath of tragedy.
In Getting Better , he shares his story and the lessons he has learned along the way. Exploring the roles that trauma and grief have played in his own life, Michael investigates the road to recovery, asking how we can find it within ourselves to live well again after - or even during - the darkest times of our lives. Moving and insightful, Getting Better is an essential companion for anyone who has loved and lost, or struggled and survived.
7 pages, Audible Audio
Published February 2, 2023
93 people are currently reading
896 people want to read
About the author
Michael Rosen
586 books526 followersMichael Rosen, a recent British Children’s Laureate, has written many acclaimed books for children, including WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, and I’M NUMBER ONE and THIS IS OUR HOUSE, both illustrated by Bob Graham. Michael Rosen lives in London.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
February 12, 2023
As a teacher, I have long term loved Michael Rosen's writing, but since writing so openly about being ill with Covid in 2020 I couldn't wait for this one. As someone with a lifelong chronic illness, his words speak to my soul, and this book didn't disappoint. It is so refreshing to read someone writing so openly about their struggles, and ways to overcome them. It wasn't patronising, it was honest and upfront and made me cry multiple times in the first few chapters just through feeling seen and recognising my own journey in someone else's words. A thing of joy (which has also reminded me to keep writing as a form of helping myself)
May 6, 2023
found this book emotional and interesting with the language used as the author discusses different aspects of his life and experiences
February 18, 2023
A rather sporadic and haphazard narrative, but very kindly and gently told. A chaotic book with a warm heart.
March 15, 2023
Like many others, I grew up on Michael Rosen’s work, including probably his best known, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. I hadn’t read him for a while when I picked up Many Different Kinds of Love in a supermarket in 2021, where he tells us of his experience of COVID-19, being in a coma, in intensive care, close to death, plus all the rehab that came after. It was such a powerfully sad but hopeful book. So I was glad to see he’d written a new one.
I did at first assume it would be a follow up from this book, documenting more about his recovery from COVID-19, and it is to a point, but it’s also about his life, the difficult things he’s had to go through and what lessons he has learned through them.
What I love about his work, is he has this natural magic to the words he uses. It doesn’t seem to matter if he’s writing children’s fiction, adult fiction or non-fiction, the words seamlessly jump off the page and into your heart.
As documented in this book, he’s been through a lot: a chronic illness, the loss of a child, and his own brush with death, and whilst that has had a huge effect on him, this book shows that, whilst it may not be easy, these things don’t have to define your life, and you can find the positives amongst them.
Comedian Cariad Lloyd said of this book that it’s “like having a cup of tea and a chat with Michael himself”, and I’d have to agree. There’s no ego here, no ulterior motive, and he’s not trying to prove anything. It’s just him talking about his own experience and how he might be able to help others, and its just warming, humorous, silly, natural, and above all, honest. Really honest. And we all need that.
We will all go through hardships in our lives, whether it’s a job loss, money worries, a bereavement, a relationship ending, an illness etc. And this book instils such hope that I think it would do the world some good if everyone had a copy.
You can dip in and out, reading the chapters in order or picking out what you want and flitting backwards and forwards. Or you can be like me and read it from cover to cover straight through. There’s no right or wrong way to read it, and no rules about what you can take away from it. This allows a sense of freedom in your reading which is rarely found.
The main thing I liked about it was that it shows the importance of words. You’ll appreciate that even more if, like me, you’re an obsessive of books and words and writing and stories. Words are vital. Not just for the necessary – asking for help – but equally important for the mind, writing how you feel, writing a poem, writing a love letter, writing a story. And I love how much attention he’s given to them. Yes, I know he’s a writer and so obviously words are his passion, but he has beautifully captured how important words and storytelling can be in physical and mental recovery.
I did at first assume it would be a follow up from this book, documenting more about his recovery from COVID-19, and it is to a point, but it’s also about his life, the difficult things he’s had to go through and what lessons he has learned through them.
What I love about his work, is he has this natural magic to the words he uses. It doesn’t seem to matter if he’s writing children’s fiction, adult fiction or non-fiction, the words seamlessly jump off the page and into your heart.
As documented in this book, he’s been through a lot: a chronic illness, the loss of a child, and his own brush with death, and whilst that has had a huge effect on him, this book shows that, whilst it may not be easy, these things don’t have to define your life, and you can find the positives amongst them.
Comedian Cariad Lloyd said of this book that it’s “like having a cup of tea and a chat with Michael himself”, and I’d have to agree. There’s no ego here, no ulterior motive, and he’s not trying to prove anything. It’s just him talking about his own experience and how he might be able to help others, and its just warming, humorous, silly, natural, and above all, honest. Really honest. And we all need that.
We will all go through hardships in our lives, whether it’s a job loss, money worries, a bereavement, a relationship ending, an illness etc. And this book instils such hope that I think it would do the world some good if everyone had a copy.
You can dip in and out, reading the chapters in order or picking out what you want and flitting backwards and forwards. Or you can be like me and read it from cover to cover straight through. There’s no right or wrong way to read it, and no rules about what you can take away from it. This allows a sense of freedom in your reading which is rarely found.
The main thing I liked about it was that it shows the importance of words. You’ll appreciate that even more if, like me, you’re an obsessive of books and words and writing and stories. Words are vital. Not just for the necessary – asking for help – but equally important for the mind, writing how you feel, writing a poem, writing a love letter, writing a story. And I love how much attention he’s given to them. Yes, I know he’s a writer and so obviously words are his passion, but he has beautifully captured how important words and storytelling can be in physical and mental recovery.
March 7, 2023
The chapter on Eddie alone made me give this book 5*. Such a moving, well-written memoir with really great advice.
February 25, 2023
Michael Rosen is a man of words , poetry, language …as someone who has worked in primary education for 35 years he is also a bit of a legend …but he is also a man of wisdom and compassion and this autobiographical book about life and living shows this . In some senses this could be described as a self help book but I’m sure that is not necessarily the intention. This is a tremendously moving book and at times incredibly sad as Michael Rosen shares some of the hardest parts of his life emotionally, physically and mentally but having said that there is a glorious celebration of life and recognising how we can get through the dark times and see the light. Using his experiences , he shares his personal experiences and ways he dealt with huge personal challenges and gives some insightful approaches that the reader could use. Moving , humorous, wise and thought provoking, this is a book that doesn’t deflect from life’s hardest moments but also encourages us to see the joy in simplicity..I couldn’t agree more how play , curiosity and day dreaming are the magical ingredients to keeping young at heart
March 14, 2023
Ouch ouch ouch !
May 8, 2023
Michael Rosen has got through lots of crises in his life including the death of his parents, his son, jobs and a close shave with death with Covid. He also had a long-term illness for over a decade without realising it and Jewish relatives who he discovered died in Nazi concentration camps. Their memories he unearthed from the fragments available to him to make sure they were not forgotten.
Getting Better is written in an unusual stream-of-consciousness style which can be a bit rambling and goes off on all sorts of tangents and parenthetical detours. Rosen reveals in the final chapter that this style in itself is part of his method for Getting Better.
One thing I could identify with is his need to understand things. He immersed himself in his subject as part of his recovery process - whether it was the holocaust, his son's illness, or his own ailments. Like many writers, I suspect Rosen is also a prolific reader. My wife was in hospital for three months a couple of years ago, and in intensive care for two weeks. I found reading medical articles helped me to deal with it, and understand what was happening.
Getting Better is written in an unusual stream-of-consciousness style which can be a bit rambling and goes off on all sorts of tangents and parenthetical detours. Rosen reveals in the final chapter that this style in itself is part of his method for Getting Better.
One thing I could identify with is his need to understand things. He immersed himself in his subject as part of his recovery process - whether it was the holocaust, his son's illness, or his own ailments. Like many writers, I suspect Rosen is also a prolific reader. My wife was in hospital for three months a couple of years ago, and in intensive care for two weeks. I found reading medical articles helped me to deal with it, and understand what was happening.
October 4, 2024
Oh man this felt like a reassuring hand on my shoulder
Fav quotes/passages:
“I have what I call Lonely Corridor Syndrome. This is a name for a feeling that mixes loneliness, sadness and loss. It’s connected to what feels like the sensation of something real:a place, a time, a smell, and yet it’s no more than a vision, a kind of daydream”
“It’s not easy to find time, motivation, or money, but if you can it’s a liberator”
“My “One Good Thing Principle”. It goes like this: try to do one thing every day that makes you proud”
“My daydreaming seems to go in two directions - backwards and forwards. Backwards daydreaming is thinking about all of the weird, painful, odd, hilarious, absurd and tragic things that have happened to me … forwards daydreaming is about fantasies of what I could be, could have, thinking about things I yearn for”
Fav quotes/passages:
“I have what I call Lonely Corridor Syndrome. This is a name for a feeling that mixes loneliness, sadness and loss. It’s connected to what feels like the sensation of something real:a place, a time, a smell, and yet it’s no more than a vision, a kind of daydream”
“It’s not easy to find time, motivation, or money, but if you can it’s a liberator”
“My “One Good Thing Principle”. It goes like this: try to do one thing every day that makes you proud”
“My daydreaming seems to go in two directions - backwards and forwards. Backwards daydreaming is thinking about all of the weird, painful, odd, hilarious, absurd and tragic things that have happened to me … forwards daydreaming is about fantasies of what I could be, could have, thinking about things I yearn for”
March 6, 2023
This is an important book.
Michael Rosen talks of sad events in his own life (his mother's death, his son's death, almost dying himself from COVID), & tells us how he coped with these incredibly difficult events.
I wouldn't call this a "self-help" book, it's more his way of dealing with events. As a writer myself, I found the penultimate chapter, which deals with how he managed to get his thoughts & feelings post COVID particularly interesting.
Worthy of your attention.
Michael Rosen talks of sad events in his own life (his mother's death, his son's death, almost dying himself from COVID), & tells us how he coped with these incredibly difficult events.
I wouldn't call this a "self-help" book, it's more his way of dealing with events. As a writer myself, I found the penultimate chapter, which deals with how he managed to get his thoughts & feelings post COVID particularly interesting.
Worthy of your attention.
Read
January 27, 2025Almost bawled my eyes out in the staffroom, fantastic memoir of a fantastic man!
September 2, 2025
The thing about Michael Rosen is that he's not just clever, he's wise. And by that I mean that he adds humility to his insight.
I gained a lot from this book but would particularly point you the chapter on his discovery, at 30, of a decade long thyroid condition. His account of what happened and how he felt resonated very deeply.
I was diagnosed with coeliac at 30, having never been well and then become very ill. It's hard to get over to people what it's like to be celebrating recovery when: you didn't know you were ill; when your entire adolescence has been shaped by restraint (turns out I am not anything like as studious or bookish when I actually have energy); and when you feel bitterly resentful that no one spotted it earlier (in my case, I was continually told I was faking/malingering). I was recently diagnosed with PTSD over the entire business. I suspect that could be avoided if diagnosticians were trained in this area.- I'd like to print this out and hand it to all consultants.
I gained a lot from this book but would particularly point you the chapter on his discovery, at 30, of a decade long thyroid condition. His account of what happened and how he felt resonated very deeply.
I was diagnosed with coeliac at 30, having never been well and then become very ill. It's hard to get over to people what it's like to be celebrating recovery when: you didn't know you were ill; when your entire adolescence has been shaped by restraint (turns out I am not anything like as studious or bookish when I actually have energy); and when you feel bitterly resentful that no one spotted it earlier (in my case, I was continually told I was faking/malingering). I was recently diagnosed with PTSD over the entire business. I suspect that could be avoided if diagnosticians were trained in this area.- I'd like to print this out and hand it to all consultants.
November 15, 2024
A brilliant book that covered many genres of writing from poetry to memoir, self help to language and a bit of philosophy and history in there too. Michael Rosen reflects on his recovery from covid as well as how he has carried on after other events in his life. He provides tips on things that have worked for him in psychologically dealing with difficult events as well as exploring what ‘getting better’ actually means too. I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook of this (read by the author) as it felt quite conversational despite all the stories, information and helpful guides that filled the pages. I especially liked hearing some of the tips about using writing as something to help during recovery from an event and different ways to play with words and construct poems. Definitely something that after I finish writing this review I’ll give a go myself.
April 12, 2023
I’ve long been an admirer of Michael Rosen’s many children’s books; his career as a writer and performer, and more recently as a passionate and informed advocate for children’s reading and writing has had a positive impact on countless numbers of young people. In 2020 he contracted Covid and came close to death, spending forty days in an induced coma. He survived, but with the loss of much mobility, and impaired sight and hearing. He has written elsewhere about the support and care he received from the NHS to get him back to a functioning state. Getting Better ranges more widely; in something between a memoir and a self-help book, he looks back at difficult and traumatic events in his and his family’s life and considers how he got through them, and shares the lessons he learned in the process. He writes with great honesty, clarity and immediacy and it is impossible not to be moved by his story and inspired by his ‘life lessons on going under, getting over it and getting through it’.
March 15, 2024
I bought this as I needed something encouraging to build my immune system up after nasty colds.
Michael Rosen wrote this book when he was recovering from covid as a sort of sequel to Many different Kinds of Love. This book talks about times in his life when he had to recover mentally or physically from trauma or a nasty illness. It is a realistic and comforting book with some tips and lots of memories including when Rosen's first son died very young.
This was a well written book with lots of wisdom but also memories and how Rosen had to process grief for his son as well as his own horrible bout of covid.
Michael Rosen wrote this book when he was recovering from covid as a sort of sequel to Many different Kinds of Love. This book talks about times in his life when he had to recover mentally or physically from trauma or a nasty illness. It is a realistic and comforting book with some tips and lots of memories including when Rosen's first son died very young.
This was a well written book with lots of wisdom but also memories and how Rosen had to process grief for his son as well as his own horrible bout of covid.
September 25, 2024
Much more of a self-help book than I was expecting going into it but I really enjoyed this! Michael has a really kind avuncular way of writing, and the way his words and anecdotes meander through time and space makes me feel like I'm sitting next to a fireplace hearing family stories. There are also some deep and heavy parts to this book, and I did cry during two chapters - when discussing his Jewish family members in Europe during WWII and when discussing the death of his son Eddie. You can tell that he has gone through much introspection and it's all here on the pages, shared with the readers. Well & truly noice.
April 11, 2024
I’m an avid admirer of Michael Rosen and his work and find joy in his written and spoken language. This book is written from the heart with realism and honest reflection of hard times in his life. It is haphazardly structured but this is how a mind works, thinking isn’t linear and organised so why should a book be? I particularly enjoyed the section about how he approaches poetry writing and how it helps him cope with what has happened to him, this was a beautiful insight.
July 25, 2025
I enjoyed listening to this and was genuinely and pleasantly surprised by Michael Rosen's candid and self-reflective style. He discusses difficult topics with honesty and openness, which will be validating for many (myself included). I listened to this on Audible but was pleased to also find a very decent secondhand physical copy in a National Trust shop today. I am sure I will be returning to this again.
February 26, 2024
I didn’t enjoy this book as much as his previous book on his struggle with Covid. Parts of this book were very good.. his recount of his brush with Covid and his explanation of teaching children about language and how to play with language. Other parts were not as memorable. I found the structure of the book quite disjointed.
November 12, 2023
Playful take on how to live life better, told through Rosen’s own life stories.
January 4, 2024
A compelling read through Michaels health and life. Like the way he includes tips such as writing poems and maintaining a positive attitude
October 16, 2025
Not quite what I had thought it would be. It was part memoir but a significant portion was self-help guide and pointers on how to write.
February 2, 2024
Not perfect by any means but an honest, moving and thought-provoking book that won't gain anything by me rattling on. I like Michael Rosen....a lot. I like how he uses words and opens up the inside of his head for the likes of me to dip in and grab whatever takes my fancy.
February 21, 2023
Comforting and beautiful. My copy is riddled with underlined passages now. A book I'll definitely keep to revisit in future.
December 29, 2023
Honestly, I felt really torn over the rating for this book - on a ten-point scale it would have been a seven. 3.5 on this scale.
Michael Rosen is one of the UK's national treasures, a prolific children's author, former Children's Laureate, a man who came to wider prominence when he was hospitalised and spent 40 days in an induced coma at the beginning of the Covid pandemic. Recently, I have been reading his posts on Facebook, including some very witty posts about former Prime Minster, Boris Johnson. It was Rosen's experience of the pandemic and his posts on Facebook that prompted me to buy this book when it caught my eye.
There's a great deal that's very moving in this book, including Rosen's account of his experiences as a member of a Jewish family whose members suffered significant losses in the Holocaust, his descriptions of the loss of his son Eddie, and everything he shared about his experiences of having and recovering from Covid. There is treasure in these descriptions. Some treasures added to my existing understanding; as a post-war child, I have read widely about World War II and the Holocaust. Some added new information; I was touched, for example, by Rosen's descriptions of the care afforded to him by NHS staff when he was treated for Covid.
Rosen's writing was beautiful, as you might expect of such a seasoned and accomplished author. It was clear, unaffected, direct - all things I enjoyed. His chapter on writing, towards the end of the book, gave insight into his approach to writing - something to tuck away and refer to later. I can imagine this would be a gift to many aspiring writers.
Why 3.5?
One reason is that Rosen offers his experience within a framework of how others might benefit from his learnings. He is suitably tentative about this, recognising that what might work for him might not work for others. At the same time, as a learning professional - a coach and consultant to leaders - I found this aspect of the book somewhat naive. It's not that I find fault with this naivety so much as that it doesn't particular do anything for me as his reader.
Secondly, I found the book a bit eclectic; it didn't quite hang together for me.
Maybe thirdly, I realised that the book I really wanted to read and still want to read is the book he refers to a number of times, Many Different Kinds of Love.
All this being said, I still feel uncomfortable about my rating. It is true to my experience of reading this book and still, I don't quite know how to do this book justice. I am particularly glad that Michael Rosen came through his illness and curious to read more of his books.
Michael Rosen is one of the UK's national treasures, a prolific children's author, former Children's Laureate, a man who came to wider prominence when he was hospitalised and spent 40 days in an induced coma at the beginning of the Covid pandemic. Recently, I have been reading his posts on Facebook, including some very witty posts about former Prime Minster, Boris Johnson. It was Rosen's experience of the pandemic and his posts on Facebook that prompted me to buy this book when it caught my eye.
There's a great deal that's very moving in this book, including Rosen's account of his experiences as a member of a Jewish family whose members suffered significant losses in the Holocaust, his descriptions of the loss of his son Eddie, and everything he shared about his experiences of having and recovering from Covid. There is treasure in these descriptions. Some treasures added to my existing understanding; as a post-war child, I have read widely about World War II and the Holocaust. Some added new information; I was touched, for example, by Rosen's descriptions of the care afforded to him by NHS staff when he was treated for Covid.
Rosen's writing was beautiful, as you might expect of such a seasoned and accomplished author. It was clear, unaffected, direct - all things I enjoyed. His chapter on writing, towards the end of the book, gave insight into his approach to writing - something to tuck away and refer to later. I can imagine this would be a gift to many aspiring writers.
Why 3.5?
One reason is that Rosen offers his experience within a framework of how others might benefit from his learnings. He is suitably tentative about this, recognising that what might work for him might not work for others. At the same time, as a learning professional - a coach and consultant to leaders - I found this aspect of the book somewhat naive. It's not that I find fault with this naivety so much as that it doesn't particular do anything for me as his reader.
Secondly, I found the book a bit eclectic; it didn't quite hang together for me.
Maybe thirdly, I realised that the book I really wanted to read and still want to read is the book he refers to a number of times, Many Different Kinds of Love.
All this being said, I still feel uncomfortable about my rating. It is true to my experience of reading this book and still, I don't quite know how to do this book justice. I am particularly glad that Michael Rosen came through his illness and curious to read more of his books.
November 14, 2023
Perhaps I was expecting too little from this book. I was expecting an account of how Rosen got Covid, nearly died, but recovered. I was expecting some insights into what it's like to get Covid, how he got over it, how much better life is now. What you get is pretty much Rosen's life history, his family background, suffering from undiagnosed thyroid problems, deaths of distant relatives, including, in infancy, a brother he had never known about, death of his son, getting Covid, getting over all the things life threw at him. You can hear Rosen's voice in every sentence - sometimes seemingly pithy, short, jokey, clever, punning. He delights in playing with words (Rosen - raisin). You get advice. Rosen tries to emphasise that what he wants to do is not give advice, just describe what worked for him, but you get advice, nonetheless. And you get some poetry, and advice on how to write, and that writing is good for you, and that creativity is good for you; you even get some suggestions on physical exercises to strengthen your 'core'.
The subtitle of the book is 'life lessons on going under, getting over it and getting through it', which reminds me of the refrain in We're going on a Bear Hunt. 'Can't go around it Can't go over it Can't go under it We have to go through it.'
I have great admiration for Rosen, but, for my taste, he just errs on the side of pontification, drawing morals, being a tiny bit too clever (a bit cruel, Martin!), rather than exploring his emotions, exploring his relationships, making me see how he ticks.
The subtitle of the book is 'life lessons on going under, getting over it and getting through it', which reminds me of the refrain in We're going on a Bear Hunt. 'Can't go around it Can't go over it Can't go under it We have to go through it.'
I have great admiration for Rosen, but, for my taste, he just errs on the side of pontification, drawing morals, being a tiny bit too clever (a bit cruel, Martin!), rather than exploring his emotions, exploring his relationships, making me see how he ticks.
July 19, 2023
I first met Michael Rosen when I was at Primary School and his silly poems stuck with me even then. I later became aware that he'd lost his son, and then, during the pandemic, that he'd been seriously unwell with COVID. On reading this you come to appreciate that there is a great deal in his life that he strives to 'get better' from, and he tells his life stories in a compelling way. From professional disappointments to discrimination, health issues and grief, he chronicles how he came through each thing in a very candid, very honest way. He also offers tools to help anyone else looking to 'get better', and advocates using writing to make sense of and explore what has happened to you. There were a number of other reflections that gave me a lot of comfort and the main thing that stuck with me was the sheer range of issues you're dealing with following a very serious illness, and how his wife said they'd get to them one at a time. That was a comment that helped me a great deal with my own sense of being overwhelmed. A great book for anyone looking to Get Better.
May 17, 2024
Central to the book is the death of Michael's son, Eddie. The death of a child is something that is either never discussed, or viewed as an event of such totalising grief, that bereaved parents are permanently left as semi-functioning shells. Neither is kind or helpful to the bereaved or those trying to support them. Here, the complex, non-linear nature of loss is fully on display. It is not a tidily resolved grief. While Rosen describes coming to the point that "quite simply there are other things to do and other things to feel other than sorrow." Yet at the same he still struggles to look at photographs of him. Nonetheless, he feels "at ease with him".
Tricky to rate this as it's a mixture of memoir, self-help and writing therapy how-to guide. Following a near fatal Covid infection, Rosen is full of praise for the healthcare professions, but it's actually healthcare professionals who could benefit most from it, as the account of his experience and recovery from hypothyroidism is a common patient story, but not one we often read.
February 24, 2023
Reading this book is like having a long, frank, and somewhat wandery chat with a loved friend who sounds a bit like Roald Dahl. Rosen is very straightforward about the fact that the things that helped him come back from extreme illness and grief will not work, or aren't available, for everyone, but even those for whom these things won't work will find ideas for things that will. The chapters on Alan (his lost baby brother) and the Holocaust; the loss of his teenaged son; and his recovery from Covid are very affecting--the ones on writing, and the details of his physical health program somewhat less so.
Changing the frame has a lot to do with how he has come through the crises of his life, and even if the particulars aren't relevant to you, it might do you good just to hear how this one rather valiant person learned to cope with the setbacks in his life and get better.
Changing the frame has a lot to do with how he has come through the crises of his life, and even if the particulars aren't relevant to you, it might do you good just to hear how this one rather valiant person learned to cope with the setbacks in his life and get better.
September 20, 2023
Not quite what I expected. The sections dealing with Rosen’s slow recovery from Covid and his confusion arising from his 40 day coma are as excellent as I thought they would be. Similarly, the sections on his previous illnesses and the death of his son are excellently told.
Amidst all this are more random chapters which end up trying to be a self help book on how we can all get better. Some of this comes with Rosen’s political viewpoint, which I agree with, but it stops it being general. Towards the end is a chapter on how to write. I think if Rosen had just talked about how writing helped him recover, without trying to get the reader to do is as well, it would have been more successful.
3.5 stars.
Amidst all this are more random chapters which end up trying to be a self help book on how we can all get better. Some of this comes with Rosen’s political viewpoint, which I agree with, but it stops it being general. Towards the end is a chapter on how to write. I think if Rosen had just talked about how writing helped him recover, without trying to get the reader to do is as well, it would have been more successful.
3.5 stars.
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