PRAISE | ashokrajamani

PRAISE FOR

THE DAY MY BRAIN EXPLODED

"First-time author Rajamani delivers a fascinating look at his life and his recovery as a brain-injury patient that is both heartbreaking and uplifting."

-Publisher’s Weekly

"...good-humored and self-deprecating... deals with his drama elegantly."
-Harper’s Magazine

"In this frank and witty account of his own brain "explosion," Rajamani describes in vivid detail the circumstances leading to the injury, and its devastating aftermath on both his family and himself, including chronic epilepsy and a freak form of blindness affecting the left side of each eye. With disarming drollery, the author also recounts his racism-tainted upbringing as an Indian American in white-dominated Suburban Chicago. Shedding much-needed light on a little-known medical trauma, Rajamani's sharp-edged prose is both informative and inspiring, especially for the many marginalized sufferers of brain injury and those close to him."

-Booklist

"A pretty wild book."
-BBC

"...a hopeful book about what life is really like for a twentysomething who falls down a rabbit hole but doesn't end up in Wonderland. Instead, he finds a nightmare that won't end without the strength of character that he never knew he had.”
-PBS

"Extraordinary...very personal."

CBS Radio

"Brilliant and Engaging. Perfect sarcastic humor...
a hilarious, irreverent, fascinating Holden Caulfield-esque story of a 25-year-old 'brain-damaged, Indian American redneck.'"

-School Library Journal

"With a self-deprecating tone... between humor and anger..." Rajamani details the cerebral hemorrhage and the damage it caused. The book jumps back and forth in time, from the “brain explosion” that left him epileptic and partially blind, to his childhood growing up as a first-generation Indian American in suburban Illinois, and to his post-college years working in New York. Rajamani describes what it is like to relearn the most basic of skills — how to walk, to eat, to speak — as an adult. “True, what I went through was terrible and, true, I wasn’t always patient with those around me,” he writes. “But I realize now, looking back, I am one of the luckiest people alive, and in telling my story I am hoping to give a voice to others who were not so fortunate."
-Washington Post

“With piercing prose, Rajamani beautifully captures an experience unknown to most. He reminds us that the body is remarkably adaptable and that new values surface after physical changes occur. The Day My Brain Exploded will take you to new places within yourself—it will leave a lasting imprint in your consciousness."
-Belo Miguel Cipriani,
author of "Blind: A Memoir"

"The story unfolds like a flower blooming. Powerful, hardcore honesty, and humor all make this a book I would recommend to anyone... thanks to Ashok for opening up and sharing so honestly. Shocking, amazing, powerful -- it makes for a superb book."
--Melinda Gustafson Gervasi, author of "Illness, Death, and Taxes for the Middle Class"

"Rajamani painstakingly records his advance back into the world through actions, therapy and a very strong will to succeed. Through it all, he keeps a sense of humor, though extremely edgy at times, that I believe is so integral in healing and moving on.
This is a great book. "

-Dew on the Kudzu Magazine

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-Barnes & Noble

"A fierce, funny, fascinating memoir of a man's battle back from a brain injury that damaged his body but resurrected his spirit and the meaning of his life."
--Wade Rouse,
Author of "At Least in the city Someone Could Hear Me Scream"

“The Day My Brain Exploded is a memoir of epistemology. Ashok Rajamani shares how a man rebuilds a life of the mind. His prose is at once witty and probing, persistent and clear. If the brain could write an autobiography this would be it."
-- Stephen Kuusisto,
Author of "Planet of the Blind"

"Rajamani is clearly a new creative talent to watch:
he deftly mixes dark, Sedaris-like comedy with surreal drama, thus capable of being both wickedly hilarious and seriously brave (especially when it involves cultural taboos) -- while also remaining emotionally authentic."
-- Jason Michel, Paris, Editor-in-chief, Pulp Metal Magazine
and author of "Confessions of a Black Dog"

"A uniquely humor-filled memoir."
--Open City Magazine

Rajamani’s tale is a memoir describing the course of his life before and his recovery following a rather catastrophic hemorrhagic stroke. It’s full of irreverent rapier wit and artfully written prose, and speaks to a lot of issues that are seldom acknowledged—including life as a second-generation American struggling to assimilate in a society that will never truly accept him, and the stigmas and perceptions that surround afflictions of the brain and mind. Rajamani does his best to underscore the importance of all that with a healthy dose of gallows humor."
--"Time-out-of-life," Tumblr

"An articulate biography written from the heart."
--garamchai.com

"Pure emotion: Raw and Real. It's a very accurate portrait of what happened before, during, and after his brain bleed."

--Leigh Pafford,
Hometowne Television

" Rajamani mostly tells his story with humor and irreverence, but his recounting of his painful recovery period is moving and heartfelt. He is an inspired survivor who weaves a revelatory tale of overcoming enormous odds."
--PositScience.com

"Rajamani takes you through your own gamut of emotions as you share his story of the event and the therapy and recovery which is continual. You cry. You laugh. You feel pity, sympathy and empathy.
What a diary to be able to read."

--Rebecca Holland,
Author of "From the Nightstand"

"This memoir is so important... for anyone who is suffering a disability, especially a brain-related disability."

-David McMillan,
"Strategies for Living" Radio

"While it’s a marvel that he survived—most people don’t make it after such traumatic injuries—what’s a miracle is that he recovered sufficiently to write such an eloquent book about his ordeal."

--Khabar Magazine

"Rajamani's account is personal, inspiring, terrifying and funny, finding humour in his situation..."

-The Times of India