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Sex with a Brain Injury: On Concussion and Recovery
Winner of the Stonewall Israel Fishman Nonfiction Award and the Jeanne Córdova Prize
This powerful and deeply personal memoir in essays “reflects on history, philosophy, and love while living with head trauma” (The New York Times Book Review).
“An infuriatingly gorgeous, important book.” —Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties * “A riveting book about embodiment, pain, identity, and intimacy…this book is a stunning achievement.” —Melissa Febos, author of Girlhood
After suffering multiple concussions in her thirties, Annie Liontas shares what it means to be one of the “walking wounded” in Sex with a Brain Injury. Facing her fear, her rage, her physical suffering, and the effects of head trauma on her marriage and other relationships, Liontas is forced to reckon with her own queer mother’s battle with addiction and finds echoes in their pain. Liontas weaves history, philosophy, and personal accounts to interrogate and expand representations of mental health, ability, and disability—particularly in relation to women and the LGBT community. She uncovers the surprising legacy of brain injury, examining its role in culture, the criminal justice system, and through historical figures like Henry VIII and Harriet Tubman. Through Liontas’s sharp, affecting prose, we can imagine this kind of pain, and having to claw one’s way back to a new normal. The hidden gift of injury, Liontas writes, is the ability to connect with others.
For the millions of people who have suffered from concussions and for those who have endeavored to support loved ones through the painful and often baffling experience of head trauma, this intimate memoir of a profound affliction and resilience…stands as testimony to love and patience” (Kirkus Reviews).
This powerful and deeply personal memoir in essays “reflects on history, philosophy, and love while living with head trauma” (The New York Times Book Review).
“An infuriatingly gorgeous, important book.” —Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties * “A riveting book about embodiment, pain, identity, and intimacy…this book is a stunning achievement.” —Melissa Febos, author of Girlhood
After suffering multiple concussions in her thirties, Annie Liontas shares what it means to be one of the “walking wounded” in Sex with a Brain Injury. Facing her fear, her rage, her physical suffering, and the effects of head trauma on her marriage and other relationships, Liontas is forced to reckon with her own queer mother’s battle with addiction and finds echoes in their pain. Liontas weaves history, philosophy, and personal accounts to interrogate and expand representations of mental health, ability, and disability—particularly in relation to women and the LGBT community. She uncovers the surprising legacy of brain injury, examining its role in culture, the criminal justice system, and through historical figures like Henry VIII and Harriet Tubman. Through Liontas’s sharp, affecting prose, we can imagine this kind of pain, and having to claw one’s way back to a new normal. The hidden gift of injury, Liontas writes, is the ability to connect with others.
For the millions of people who have suffered from concussions and for those who have endeavored to support loved ones through the painful and often baffling experience of head trauma, this intimate memoir of a profound affliction and resilience…stands as testimony to love and patience” (Kirkus Reviews).
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Published January 16, 2024
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About the author
Annie Liontas
3 books76 followersAnnie Liontas' debut novel, LET ME EXPLAIN YOU (Scribner) was selected by the ABA as an Indies Introduce 2015. She is the recent recipient of a grant from the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, and her story “Two Planes in Love” was selected as runner-up in BOMB Magazine’s 2013 Fiction Prize Contest. Other stories and poems have appeared in Ninth Letter, Night Train, and Lit. Since 2003, Annie has been dedicated to urban education, working with teachers and youth in Newark and Philadelphia. She co-hosts the TireFire Reading Series and lives with her wife in Philadelphia across the street from the best pizza jawn. Follow her @aliontas.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 123 reviews
August 8, 2024
jesus christ dude.... it took me a long time to read this book because it kept hitting too close to home - this is the first time I have read something that has reached so deeply into a part of me that I thought previously impossible to understand by other people and maybe not even myself. This book brought me to tears multiple times, triggered a few panic attacks, and also showed me a light I didn't know could exist. if you have a loved one who has had any form of head trauma, this is required reading.
December 10, 2023
Sex With A Brain Injury on Concussion and Recovery was a completely unexpected read! I won this book from Goodreads (Thank you Goodreads!!!)! I originally entered because I thought as a future social worker it might give me insight into the struggles of individuals who have experienced a brain injury. It gave me so much more than that. This author's writing is brilliant! It is deeply personal yet easy to connect to. It focuses on her life yet also evaluates history and the experiences of others. It is a great read!
January 14, 2024
3/5 stars,
A memoir about life after multiple concussions. As someone who has had multiple concussions, this piece was very emotional for me to read about someone struggling with the same issues. I particularly enjoyed the discussion around athletes with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and incarcerated individuals with TBIs. I wish there was more awareness to folks suffering from head injuries. There was a lot of fluff throughout the book that made it hard to finish and get through.
Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. This is my honest review.
A memoir about life after multiple concussions. As someone who has had multiple concussions, this piece was very emotional for me to read about someone struggling with the same issues. I particularly enjoyed the discussion around athletes with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and incarcerated individuals with TBIs. I wish there was more awareness to folks suffering from head injuries. There was a lot of fluff throughout the book that made it hard to finish and get through.
Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. This is my honest review.
May 14, 2024
3.5 stars…
Not sure how to rate/review this book. There were parts that I resonated with deeply and others that left me wondering what the author was trying to say, i.e what was the point? I do believe this was intentional on the author's part, to mimic what it is like to live with/experience multiple TBIs, but it also made it hard for my neurodiverse (ADHD) brain to keep track of and parse out. I've also had multiple TBIs, which I think further exacerbates my ADHD. Liontas briefly addresses how people with TBIs behaviors can sometimes mimic the symptoms and behaviors of neurodiverse people, but I'd be curious to know more about how TBIs impact a person with neurodiverse brain.
The chapter about the correlation of TBIs to prison time, and the research that's being done, was eye opening and well researched. I also felt it was the strongest chapter in the book. I much more appreciated this chapter and the chapters the author spent delving into the impacts that TBIs have had on historical figures and thus on history.
Not sure how to rate/review this book. There were parts that I resonated with deeply and others that left me wondering what the author was trying to say, i.e what was the point? I do believe this was intentional on the author's part, to mimic what it is like to live with/experience multiple TBIs, but it also made it hard for my neurodiverse (ADHD) brain to keep track of and parse out. I've also had multiple TBIs, which I think further exacerbates my ADHD. Liontas briefly addresses how people with TBIs behaviors can sometimes mimic the symptoms and behaviors of neurodiverse people, but I'd be curious to know more about how TBIs impact a person with neurodiverse brain.
The chapter about the correlation of TBIs to prison time, and the research that's being done, was eye opening and well researched. I also felt it was the strongest chapter in the book. I much more appreciated this chapter and the chapters the author spent delving into the impacts that TBIs have had on historical figures and thus on history.
February 11, 2024
Much like the author, I experienced multiple traumatic brain injuries within the space of a year. I have never seen my experience portrayed with so much authenticity, nuance, wisdom, and compassion. This collection of essays focuses on Annie Liontas' concussion recovery, but she plays loosely with form and technique. I learned so much about the "walking wounded" sufferers of TBI-- football players, DV survivors, historical figures like Lincoln and Tubman-- but I never felt like I was getting a lecture. Liontas also has a breathtaking, lyrical prose styling. The standout essay was "Professor X & the Trauma Justice League," which is co-written by Marchell Taylor, a formerly incarcerated TBI sufferer now working to help other incarcerated people with concussions. I want to shove this book into the hands of everyone I know.
June 8, 2024
As someone who recently had their life quickly taken apart and slowly put back together again, in a new form, by multiple concussions and persistent post-concussive symptoms, i am endlessly grateful for annie liontas’s candor in telling their story of living with and slowly recovering from multiple debilitating concussions. Highly recommend to anyone who has lived through this, anyone who loves someone who has lived through this, and anyone living with a chronic illness or disability, particularly one that’s invisible to the people around them.
September 20, 2024
“Where are the drunk college kids who made a bad decision on a balcony..” That is me, and in 2 and half years of slowly piecing myself together this book has been a friend with answers. Thank you Annie Liontas for being vulnerable enough to help us through the dark.
April 18, 2024
started out interesting but it felt disorganised towards the end
July 31, 2024
"When I break through, it is for no less than this: I will have my life."
this took me a while to finish -- it is a painful relief to find so much understanding in these pages.
as other reviews note, the title of this book is somewhat deceptive -- liontas only dedicates one chapter to sex. i'm not mad about it!
this is a book about ... hmm. this is a book about head injury, but this is also a book about queerness, writing, family, neuroplasticity, the prison industrial complex, dancing. the questions she poses are universal -- what does "moving on" from injury look like? what sixth sense can we wrestle from our suffering?
"You fantasize about going back in time, erasing the injuries, being the person you once were. But when you meet you again -- your sureness, your impenetrability -- you realize there is no room for you here. The old you is ungiving as a wall, as flat as a sleeping bag, and cannot speak your new language. "
"After long periods of bare existence - isolation, sickness - living takes on a ferocious new intensity, that is both welcome and throttling. Ecstatic - to stand outside of. To be both yourself and something else. "
"This is not about happiness, which is flat and white, which is often too simple and dull. This is about joy, which is far more precious for its impermanence, and which bubbles up to contain everything -- yearning, desperation, elation, celebration, excitement, nostalgia, desire, possibility, transfiguration. Joy is bent lace."
this took me a while to finish -- it is a painful relief to find so much understanding in these pages.
as other reviews note, the title of this book is somewhat deceptive -- liontas only dedicates one chapter to sex. i'm not mad about it!
this is a book about ... hmm. this is a book about head injury, but this is also a book about queerness, writing, family, neuroplasticity, the prison industrial complex, dancing. the questions she poses are universal -- what does "moving on" from injury look like? what sixth sense can we wrestle from our suffering?
"You fantasize about going back in time, erasing the injuries, being the person you once were. But when you meet you again -- your sureness, your impenetrability -- you realize there is no room for you here. The old you is ungiving as a wall, as flat as a sleeping bag, and cannot speak your new language. "
"After long periods of bare existence - isolation, sickness - living takes on a ferocious new intensity, that is both welcome and throttling. Ecstatic - to stand outside of. To be both yourself and something else. "
"This is not about happiness, which is flat and white, which is often too simple and dull. This is about joy, which is far more precious for its impermanence, and which bubbles up to contain everything -- yearning, desperation, elation, celebration, excitement, nostalgia, desire, possibility, transfiguration. Joy is bent lace."
March 16, 2024
One of the best books I have read about concussions, specifically multiple concussions. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has experienced multiple concussions and the long-lasting effects on all aspects of our lives. Annie explains the feelings and experiences of concussion with such beautiful prose I was reduced to tears numerous times with emotions welling over from being so deeply understood. After a second, or possibly un-confirmed third, concussion last year, I have struggled with trying to explain the nuances to family & friends. I especially like the way she intersperses facts throughout in easily digestible ways. Now, I have a resource to share that may help spread understanding and awareness in a way my words have failed.
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February 2, 2024I’m not quite sure how to rate this. I appreciated the memoir more than I did the other anecdotes. I found the book pretty disjointed. Some reviewers have suggested this was intentional, to mimic some of the experience of a brain injury. That may be, but for me it made this a little bit of a slog. It was especially difficult to follow on audio, particularly all the “redacted” portions.
October 13, 2024
great and insightful record of experience with minor traumatic brain injury. i had no idea how easy anyone could get a minor concussion- and how it dire it could alter your life when the symptoms are invisible.
this book was very experimental. i liked how it was surreal at points, to the point where none of the words made any sense. i got the gist that this was to represent the Lionta's confusion and memory loss after the accidents. but sometimes whole sentences or metaphors felt like they could have just been cut.
the title of the book makes it seem like she would have wrote a lot about sex, though not much was actually mentioned. it mainly wrote about Lionta's complicated estrangement with her wife after the injury. Liontas was very self aware and wrote of her wrongdoings and because of the experimental writing, i could better understand how it was impossible for the marriage to be the same that it was. this was difficult to read sometimes. so perhaps that means it was good.
of note- i read the part about american football and how gravely dangerous the sport is, as there is no possible reform to make the sport to safe from major concussions. Liontas also pointed out how the sport puts majority young black boys vulnerable to chronic head injuries. i then went to my first college football game right after. seeing these players fall so hard onto their heads was terrifying, and they just get up and do it again! these injuries must certainly caused impediments to living a functioning life. its just so scary.
i also really appreciated the Lionta's intention to point out parts of her identity that served her privileges or hardships with her journey. Lionta mentioned her white woman privilege and also spoke a lot about her immigrant identity, though i felt she didn't delve deep enough into the latter.
one of my favorite excerpts was actually Lionta retelling the story of Marchell Taylor, who suffered from an undiagnosed traumatic brain injury in a car accident when very young, then fell into series of felony acts that had him incarcerated. he realized that his impulsive and risky behavior was tied to brain injury and is now community organizing to help inmates navigate similar situations. Liontas wrote a good paragraph comparing her concussion experience to his.
main takeaway: protect your head!!! liontas brain was completely altered from just falling off her bicycle.
this book was very experimental. i liked how it was surreal at points, to the point where none of the words made any sense. i got the gist that this was to represent the Lionta's confusion and memory loss after the accidents. but sometimes whole sentences or metaphors felt like they could have just been cut.
the title of the book makes it seem like she would have wrote a lot about sex, though not much was actually mentioned. it mainly wrote about Lionta's complicated estrangement with her wife after the injury. Liontas was very self aware and wrote of her wrongdoings and because of the experimental writing, i could better understand how it was impossible for the marriage to be the same that it was. this was difficult to read sometimes. so perhaps that means it was good.
"Any anchor, if too big, too heavy, will drown you. Forget regret. It is a selfish act that annihilates the self. Instead, give way to remorse, which recognizes that there is a wronged person on the other side of the act, the one who, all this time, has been in the room with you. The wife on the boat. The widow of the Russian judge, now tending to the children alone. The person across the table in the taberna. Remorse is specific, it is demanding, it relies not on counterfactuals but actual selves, says: "I did this to you, and I'm sorry. Please forgive me."
of note- i read the part about american football and how gravely dangerous the sport is, as there is no possible reform to make the sport to safe from major concussions. Liontas also pointed out how the sport puts majority young black boys vulnerable to chronic head injuries. i then went to my first college football game right after. seeing these players fall so hard onto their heads was terrifying, and they just get up and do it again! these injuries must certainly caused impediments to living a functioning life. its just so scary.
i also really appreciated the Lionta's intention to point out parts of her identity that served her privileges or hardships with her journey. Lionta mentioned her white woman privilege and also spoke a lot about her immigrant identity, though i felt she didn't delve deep enough into the latter.
one of my favorite excerpts was actually Lionta retelling the story of Marchell Taylor, who suffered from an undiagnosed traumatic brain injury in a car accident when very young, then fell into series of felony acts that had him incarcerated. he realized that his impulsive and risky behavior was tied to brain injury and is now community organizing to help inmates navigate similar situations. Liontas wrote a good paragraph comparing her concussion experience to his.
"If Marchell were not always playing defense—if he had the privilege that Annie has— might he ask, Who did you hurt after your injury? What price did you pay for it? And when he hears the answer, which is nowhere near twenty years' hard time, how might he feel? Marchell might sit awake at night, a longtime habit, his mind jumping over puddles, trying to puzzle out how suicide sickness in a white woman is treated with pity, while in a Black man it is viewed as innate aggression.
Why is your self-destructive behavior forgivable, when mine is not? Is there no culpability in that? Look at you, a thirty-some-years-old white woman with a couple head injuries and all those tools to cope, and then look at me, a nine-year-old Black kid without any idea of what's happened to me or how to keep from drowning in it. A leads to B leads to C, but we never think past C in this country. What in you has yet to be criminalized that in me has been locked away? Who keeps you, cares and at work and in societal institutions, so that all is forgiven?"
main takeaway: protect your head!!! liontas brain was completely altered from just falling off her bicycle.
August 3, 2024
i felt so seen from the first chapter on. reading this forced me to revisit my injury and give myself more credit for what i endured, how i've been changed, for better and for worse. has me thinking about how i can recover what i've lost, and reconciling that against consolidating what i've gained.
liontas is a beautifully gifted and unique creative nonfiction writer. informed memoir may be my new favourite genre. i will say that her recounting of her experience did fuel my own anxiety and hyper viligance. two weeks ago i felt like something bad was going to happen and it did (i ran into a screen door at dusk). in the long term, reading this book and re-injuring myself has inspired me to get care and do treatment i never did, didn't even know was possible, towards a fuller and more lasting recovery. maybe it was the hit over the head i needed (pun intended)
liontas is a beautifully gifted and unique creative nonfiction writer. informed memoir may be my new favourite genre. i will say that her recounting of her experience did fuel my own anxiety and hyper viligance. two weeks ago i felt like something bad was going to happen and it did (i ran into a screen door at dusk). in the long term, reading this book and re-injuring myself has inspired me to get care and do treatment i never did, didn't even know was possible, towards a fuller and more lasting recovery. maybe it was the hit over the head i needed (pun intended)
September 21, 2024
I feel like the name is misleading, but this is a beautiful yet devastating memoir/nonfiction work about the author’s experience with multiple concussions/tbi. I love how she wove her own experience in with the science and history. About grief, queerness, support systems, and invisible illness
October 19, 2024
Won this in a giveaway!
I can truthfully say the topic of brain injuries & concussions is not one I think of very often if at all. What an insightful and important read. The writing felt very poetic while discussing facts, figures, and lived experiences.
I can truthfully say the topic of brain injuries & concussions is not one I think of very often if at all. What an insightful and important read. The writing felt very poetic while discussing facts, figures, and lived experiences.
May 16, 2024
Have you suffered from “railway spine”? Do you regret in advance? How often are you “surrounded by this many hot lesbians”? If you aspire to “live consciously in a world that lives in fantasies” check out Sex with a Brain Injury, a refreshingly jarring memoir-in-essays by genderqueer novelist and professor of writing Annie Liontas. Secure your safety helmet, explore what it means to fall down, get back up and keep falling, and allow Liontas to catch you as her trouble makes yours real.
July 26, 2025
Picked up this book as part of my book clubs pick for disability awareness month. I would have never realized how much I would learn from this book. The links between incarceration and brain injury were fascinating and tragic to me. Such an important read for anyone working in mental health of anyone at all!
July 1, 2025
I wish this was around earlier in my life it made me feel seen
July 23, 2025
Highly recommend this one but I might have preferred paper for some of the sections. I love the way that this and other books weave personal narrative, history, science and PHILLY together.
June 9, 2025
I absolutely loved the first half of essays in this collection. My interest fell off during the second half, but overall this will be a collection I keep returning to. My favorite essay overall was "Dancing in the Dark".
June 28, 2024
The title of this book should be: SEX! Now That I Have Your Attention, I'm Going To Talk About Everything About Brain Injuries and Not About Sex At All... which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Look, I would have read the book regardless because I have sustained a head injury and I absolutely agree with the author that it does change your life and relationships and it sucks and can be debilitating at times especially because it's an invisible injury and everyone around me is constantly swinging from "you're lucky to be alive" to "you look fine" and not acknowledging that the truth is somewhere in between and will be for the rest of my life.
This was an emotional read and I blitzed through the audiobook not giving myself time to properly process things because "we don't have time for that now" and my head injury was in 2018 shouldn't I be over it by now? Or am I going to let my life be defined by something like that? I dunno, I still suffer from migraines I didn't used to get so on that front there is literally no choice. But I get to choose what I dwell on.
My bad for not doing my due diligence in regards to what I read because I was looking for a manual on how sex changes after head injury and what I got was a memoir that reached in to try and connect with parts of me I've been actively trying to ignore* because I don't want to be "a bummer" and "the sickie" (things that nobody has actually said to me because my friends and family do care about me, but I am my own worst enemy).
*But that's probably what I needed to hear so the bait-and-switch title worked. Gottem!
This book delves into a lot of topics from the anger issues, confusion, and pain that can stem from head injury, how those issues can devolve into problems with the law, to prison reform via a community outreach program the author was breifly involved in, head injuries sustained by amateur and professional football players, historical accounts of head injuries, and there are sections where the author artistically mimics the flickering grasping for thoughts of what it's like to fight through brain fog.
I recommend this book to anyone who has had a head injury, if you have had a loved one who sustained a head injury, or if you're just a curious person. This book is well written and I think reflects a good first person account of what it's like, how alienating it is, even when you do have a support system.
This was an emotional read and I blitzed through the audiobook not giving myself time to properly process things because "we don't have time for that now" and my head injury was in 2018 shouldn't I be over it by now? Or am I going to let my life be defined by something like that? I dunno, I still suffer from migraines I didn't used to get so on that front there is literally no choice. But I get to choose what I dwell on.
My bad for not doing my due diligence in regards to what I read because I was looking for a manual on how sex changes after head injury and what I got was a memoir that reached in to try and connect with parts of me I've been actively trying to ignore* because I don't want to be "a bummer" and "the sickie" (things that nobody has actually said to me because my friends and family do care about me, but I am my own worst enemy).
*But that's probably what I needed to hear so the bait-and-switch title worked. Gottem!
This book delves into a lot of topics from the anger issues, confusion, and pain that can stem from head injury, how those issues can devolve into problems with the law, to prison reform via a community outreach program the author was breifly involved in, head injuries sustained by amateur and professional football players, historical accounts of head injuries, and there are sections where the author artistically mimics the flickering grasping for thoughts of what it's like to fight through brain fog.
I recommend this book to anyone who has had a head injury, if you have had a loved one who sustained a head injury, or if you're just a curious person. This book is well written and I think reflects a good first person account of what it's like, how alienating it is, even when you do have a support system.
February 4, 2024
Thank you to Scribner for sending me a free copy of this book to read and review.
I am so glad this book exists. This is a brilliant and powerful memoir about concussions, also known as mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).
Annie Liontas experienced three mTBIs within a short period of time. This impacted their entire life and threatened relationships both platonic and romantic. This memoir explores:
- firsthand experience with mTBIs
- examination of the relationship between the author and their queer mother who battled addiction
- incidence of brain injury in historical figures like Harriet Tubman
- correlation between head trauma and incarceration/the criminal justice system
- treatment of mTBI in popular culture, such as with sports
The relationship between head trauma and the criminal justice system was especially fascinating, although devastating. There are many things I will take away from this book, but this section of it I’ve already brought up in conversation with friends and family.
Books with disability representation are especially important to me. With my specific neurological disorder I immediately connected with author’s experience. My disability, like Liontas’, can be imperceptible to an outsider’s perspective, even though it impacts every part of my day and completely changed the trajectory of my life. Though I have not had an mTBI, I was able to take so much from this book. I hope that everyone who reads it can as well, and that those who have also had concussions can find validation here. As Liontas writes, “the hidden gift of injury is the ability to connect with others.”
I am so glad this book exists. This is a brilliant and powerful memoir about concussions, also known as mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).
Annie Liontas experienced three mTBIs within a short period of time. This impacted their entire life and threatened relationships both platonic and romantic. This memoir explores:
- firsthand experience with mTBIs
- examination of the relationship between the author and their queer mother who battled addiction
- incidence of brain injury in historical figures like Harriet Tubman
- correlation between head trauma and incarceration/the criminal justice system
- treatment of mTBI in popular culture, such as with sports
The relationship between head trauma and the criminal justice system was especially fascinating, although devastating. There are many things I will take away from this book, but this section of it I’ve already brought up in conversation with friends and family.
Books with disability representation are especially important to me. With my specific neurological disorder I immediately connected with author’s experience. My disability, like Liontas’, can be imperceptible to an outsider’s perspective, even though it impacts every part of my day and completely changed the trajectory of my life. Though I have not had an mTBI, I was able to take so much from this book. I hope that everyone who reads it can as well, and that those who have also had concussions can find validation here. As Liontas writes, “the hidden gift of injury is the ability to connect with others.”
July 8, 2024
If you've ever had a brain injury, read this.
If you've ever had a concussion, read this.
If you've ever had a TBI or mTBI, read this.
If you've ever had a migraine, read this.
If you've ever had a headache, read thhs
If you've ever been tired, read this
If you've ever had depression, read this.
If you've ever had anger issues, read this.
If you're a lesbian, read this
If you're and immigrant, read this.
If you're trans, read this.
If you're nonbinary, read this.
If you have a chronic illness, read this.
If you have a complex relationship with one or more of your parents, read this.
If you've ever loved a woman, read this.
If you've ever had a job, read this.
If you've ever been to university, read this.
If you've ever been to jail or prison, read this.
If you've ever played a sport, read this.
If you've ever made art, read this.
If you're a human on this fucking earth, read Sex With a Brain Injury.
If you've ever had a concussion, read this.
If you've ever had a TBI or mTBI, read this.
If you've ever had a migraine, read this.
If you've ever had a headache, read thhs
If you've ever been tired, read this
If you've ever had depression, read this.
If you've ever had anger issues, read this.
If you're a lesbian, read this
If you're and immigrant, read this.
If you're trans, read this.
If you're nonbinary, read this.
If you have a chronic illness, read this.
If you have a complex relationship with one or more of your parents, read this.
If you've ever loved a woman, read this.
If you've ever had a job, read this.
If you've ever been to university, read this.
If you've ever been to jail or prison, read this.
If you've ever played a sport, read this.
If you've ever made art, read this.
If you're a human on this fucking earth, read Sex With a Brain Injury.
February 2, 2024
Nonlinear memoir that is only partially about brain injuries (and features just one chapter about sex). Liontas is a genderqueer author and professor who suffered three concussions in one year. Although they were each considered "mild" brain injuries, she experienced long-term, debilitating migraines, emotional dysregulation and mental confusion.
Liontas provides a smattering of the medical/social history and physiology of brain injury to accompany her personal experiences. The memoir also touches on anger, queerness, insomnia, writing, race, workplace culture, time, memory loss, and marriage. Some of the chapters are at best tangential to the titular subjects, and might have been better suited for a separate book. But Liontas' writing is powerful enough that I didn't really mind the digressions.
Liontas provides a smattering of the medical/social history and physiology of brain injury to accompany her personal experiences. The memoir also touches on anger, queerness, insomnia, writing, race, workplace culture, time, memory loss, and marriage. Some of the chapters are at best tangential to the titular subjects, and might have been better suited for a separate book. But Liontas' writing is powerful enough that I didn't really mind the digressions.
October 17, 2024
Recommended if you enjoy deftly written queer memoirs, must-read if you've also experienced brain injury.
I'm thinking of getting a copy and sharing with family (...with a disclaimer re: the attention-grabbing title that doesn’t comprise very much of the actual book 😅)
^ I wrote this at 50%, and it still holds true. I appreciate self-reflective, creative, embodied, and intellectually curious memoirs (in the tradition of Melissa Febos and others), and this one very much fits the bill—and the way she delves into concussions hit very close to home.
I'm thinking of getting a copy and sharing with family (...with a disclaimer re: the attention-grabbing title that doesn’t comprise very much of the actual book 😅)
^ I wrote this at 50%, and it still holds true. I appreciate self-reflective, creative, embodied, and intellectually curious memoirs (in the tradition of Melissa Febos and others), and this one very much fits the bill—and the way she delves into concussions hit very close to home.
May 16, 2024
If I never hear the word “redacted” again it will be too soon
April 19, 2024
I learned about interiority from Annie, so it’s not surprising that her book had me thinking “I’ve never had an original thought in my life” nearly every essay. This is an incredibly powerful memoir. The fact that it is so beautifully written feels like an added bonus.
When I think of what makes me one of the walking wounded, my 3 childhood concussions have never made the list. This book made me realize they probably should, but even so, Annie’s writing is applicable to those with a wide array of health issues. Annie deals with a lot of themes here, all of them as integrated as in an identity. Although I of course don’t relate to everything, I feel very seen and understood by this incredibly human book.
When I think of what makes me one of the walking wounded, my 3 childhood concussions have never made the list. This book made me realize they probably should, but even so, Annie’s writing is applicable to those with a wide array of health issues. Annie deals with a lot of themes here, all of them as integrated as in an identity. Although I of course don’t relate to everything, I feel very seen and understood by this incredibly human book.
July 3, 2024
As a queer contact sport athlete, this book hit home on many levels. I have been lucky enough to not endure a concussion but the amount of my teammates who have, I see in these pages and also see my relationships with them. I gathered skill and insight of how their lives and loves have been changed through this book and truly think they should all read it. I did not give 5 star simply because the style of writing was not my preferred method and found myself sometimes lost but this was a lovely memoir combined with psychological education.
October 13, 2024
It is an enormous feat to write a memoir that is equally as intimate and personal as it is broadly relevant to our culture. Annie Liontas has made it look easy. To someone who has not suffered from a brain injury, this book is both an exercise in empathy and a call to reconsider how we think about TBI and disability. Also: a reminder that to heal is to remember, to connect, and to rebuild (poco a poco). Everyone should read this book.
January 12, 2024
Well I do judge a book by its cover and honestly I wasn't expecting this depth and quality of literary memoir. This book was informative and gorgeous! I loved the Middlesex-esque queer Greek family saga combined with journalism and psych lit review and just overall really good, refined writing. Would like to revisit in paperback as the narrative structure did feel slightly jerky on audio.
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