I Am, I Am, I Am - BookWyrm

Paperback, 304 pages

Published March 26, 2019 by Vintage.

ISBN:: 978-0-525-43605-8

(3 reviews)

An extraordinarily intimate memoir of the near death experiences that have made Maggie O'Farrell the woman and the writer she is today. A childhood illness she was not expected to survive. A teenage yearning to escape that nearly ended in disaster. A terrifying encounter on a remote path. A mismanaged labour in an understaffed hospital. This is a memoir with a difference: seventeen encounters with Maggie at different ages, in different locations, reveal to us a whole life in a series of tense, visceral snapshots. It is a book to make you question yourself: what would you do if your life was in danger? How would you react? And what would you stand to lose?

5 editions

luddite reviewed I am, I am, I am by Maggie O'Farrell

Review of 'I am, I am, I am' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This book is a poignant, intimate reflection on living and dying. The writing is excellent, visceral, immersive, and deeply personal. I know memoirs are supposed to be personal - and I'll admit I haven't read too many - but this one took on a greater level of intimacy because of the central theme. The jumps in recollection within each story worked well in my book; it's how memories and our post-hoc analysis of them work. Some chapters drag, and it took me a while to finish the book, but the good chapters are worth it.

A shout-out to the writing: Fierce and personal, poignant in bits, and just so well written. The raw fear in the opening sequence of 'Neck', the deep loss in 'Baby & Bloodstream', the sheer helplessness in 'Cerebellum', the fierce protectiveness in 'Daughter' -- writing that will stay with me, for style and substance.

Kat Trigarszky

rated it

Oct. 5, 2018

Kathleen

rated it

July 30, 2018