SHATTERED

Moving funny remarkable Richard Eyre From Hanif Kureishi author of The Buddha of Suburbia a memoir about the accident that left him paralysed A few days ago a bomb went off in my life but this bomb has also shattered the lives of those around me My partner my children my friends On Boxing Day 2022 in Rome Hanif Kureishi had a fall When he came to in a pool of blood he was horrified to realise he had lost the use of his limbs He could no longer walk write or wash himself He could do nothing without the help of others and required constant care in a hospital So began an odyssey of a year through the medical systems of Rome and Italy with the hope of somehow being able to return home to his house in London While confined to a series of hospital wards he felt compelled to write but being unable to type or to hold a pen he began to dictate to family members the words which formed in his head The result was an extraordinary series of dispatches from his hospital bed a diary of a life in pieces recorded with rare honesty clarity and courage As Hanif wrote early on A few days ago a bomb went off in my life but this bomb has also shattered the lives of those around me My partner my children my friends This book takes these hospital d