The title I HAD BRAIN SURGERY, WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE? did get my attention, especially when I saw that it had been written by Suzy Becker. I was familiar with Ms Becker’s work as a cartoonist and with her earlier book, All I Need To Know I Learned From My Cat. In other words, I was expecting a very funny read. Actually I ended up with an illustrated memoir about…you guessed it, her brain surgery.
It is hard to put the book into any type of classification. It is full of humor because Suzy has the talent to see humor in any situation, especially if it involves herself. The book is also a very honest memoir of a person going through what was a very traumatic experience. The simple removal of a mass on her brain caused some loss of word usage and motor skills. This was devastating to a woman who depended on both in her career.
Suzy had always been an exceptionally healthy, athletic person. She played volleyball regularly and organized, as well as rode in, the yearly Ride Far, a bike marathon for adults and children with AIDS.
On April 27, 1999, she received a letter informing her that she was being offered an appointment to join a community of three dozen scholars, artists, and scientists who would be working on individual projects at the Bunting Institute on the campus at Radcliffe. In May of 1999, she had the seizure that triggered the test that led to her surgery.
As part of her healing program and because she had continued with her plans to attend Radcliffe, Suzy wrote the journal that became I HAD BRAIN SURGERY, WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE?
The book is illustrated with nearly 400 cartoons, charts and silly graphs. As Suzy recovers her health, we can see the improvement in her words and her art, making her development much more real to the reader.
This book would be inspiring to any patient going through a difficult recovery, not just brain surgery. Suzy Becker is likeable, never overly sentimental, and always brutally honest.
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