Jean-Dominique Bauby
Jean-Dominique Bauby was a well-known French journalist and author and editor of the French fashion magazine, Elle. On December 8, 1995 at the age of 43, Bauby suffered a massive stroke. When he woke up twenty days later, he found he was entirely speechless; he could only blink his left eyelid. This rare condition is called locked-in syndrome, a condition wherein the mental faculties are intact but the entire body is paralyzed. Bauby also lost 60 pounds in the first 20 weeks after his stroke. Despite his condition, he wrote the book The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by blinking when the correct letter was reached by a person slowly reciting the alphabet over and over again. Bauby had to compose and edit the book entirely in his head, and convey it one letter at a time. To make dictation more efficient, Bauby had his interlocutor read from a special alphabet which consisted of the letters ordered in accordance with their frequency in the French language. The book was published in France in 1997. Bauby died just ten days later of pneumonia. He is buried in a family grave at the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris, France.
3 Books Written
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death
by Jean-Dominique Bauby
Rating: 4.0 ⭐
• 2 recommendations ❤️
In December 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby, the forty-three-year-old editor of French Elle, suffered a massive stroke that left him completely and permanently paralyzed, a victim of "locked-in syndrome." Where once he had been renowned for his gregariousness and wit, Bauby now found himself imprisoned in an inert body, able to communicate only by blinking his left eye. The miracle is that in doing so he was able to compose this stunningly eloquent memoir, which was published two days before Bauby's death in 1996 and went on to become a number-one bestseller across Europe.The second miracle is that The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is less a record of affliction than it is a celebration of the liberating power of consciousness. In a voice that is by turns wistful and mischievous, angry and sardonic, Bauby tells us what it is like to spend a day with his children; to imagine lying in bed beside his lover; to conjure up the flavor of delectable meals even as he is fed by tube. Most of all, this triumphant book allows us to follow the flight of an indomitable spirit and to share its exultation at its own survival.
Raoul Lévy, un aventurier du cinéma
by Jean-Dominique Bauby
En 1960, le producteur Raoul Lévy est considéré comme le Napoléon du cinéma français. Il a trouvé la gloire et la fortune en lançant Brigitte Bardot. Et Dieu créa la femme, En cas de malheur, La vérité : c’est lui. Devenu un personnage clef de la vie parisienne, Raoul Lévy défraye une première fois la chronique, en voulant mourir pour Jeanne Moreau dont il est éperdument amoureux. Pour oublier cette passion, il se jette à corps perdu dans un projet grandiose et chimérique : « Les aventures de Marco Polo ». Et il perd tout. Au bout du rouleau, il se tire (accidentellement ?) un coup de fusil dans le ventre, le 31 décembre 1966, à Saint-Tropez. Fichu réveillon. Trente ans après, ses amis regrettent encore ce personnage impétueux et mégalo, colérique, visionnaire, cocasse, mais terriblement séduisant. De Anvers à Hollywood, de Katmandou à Venise, Jean-Dominique Bauby tente de rattraper cet homme si pressé qu’on l’avait baptisé Raoul « Jet » Lévy. Il nous parle de cinéma, mais aussi de la Royal Air Force, de collections de tableaux, d’éléphants affamés, du twist, de l’Austin Cooper et du tout nouvel aérogare d’Orly. Avec, en prime, une grave question : pourquoi se jette-t-on dans le vide quand on est parvenu au sommet ?
I Am That
by Jean-Dominique Bauby