'The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly' is one of five classic Fourth Estate books to be released as numbered, collectable editions to mark the 25th anniversary. The books will be beautifully produced hardbacks, limited to 2000 copies each, with jackets designed by some of the finest artists at work today. On 8 December 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby suffered a massive stroke and slipped into a coma. When he regained consciousness three weeks later, the only muscle left functioning was in his left eyelid although his mind remained as active and alert as it had ever been. He spent most of 1996 writing this book, letter by letter, blinking as an alphabet was repeatedly read out to him. 'The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly' was published in France on Thursday 6th March 1997. It was immediately hailed as a masterpiece. And then, three days later, he died. 'The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly', which records Bauby's lonely existence, is probably the most remarkable book about the triumph of the human spirit, the ability to invent a life for oneself in the most appalling of circumstances, that you will ever read. It has now been made into a captivating film, directed by Julian Schnabel and starring Mathieu Amalric, which was the winner of the award for Best Director at Cannes and nominated for the Palm d'Or.

This was an amazing book - written one eye blink at a time about what it is like to live with "Locked-in Syndrome". What courage, what determination, what a gift. This book was passed on to me by friend, outside of BookCrossing, who had read it. This book can be read in 1 sitting but live on in your heart forever. You will never see a tortured soul in a broken body again in the same way.

I am taking this back to the May meetup at Cravings.

To be read

What an inspiration yet sad tale about the author Jean-Dominque Bauby who lived for two years after suffering a stroke. the stroke resulted in a rare condition called "locked-in syndrome" and he had only one eye available to communicate. Those Sundays seemed like long days to him while I was able to read it in one Sunday.

Haven't read this book yet

Jean -Dominique Bauby suffered a massive stroke and was imprisoned in his own body with Locked -In-Syndrome where his brain is working but the rest of his body is paralyzed. He wrote this book with the help of his specialized nurse in which Bauby's words were conveyed by a flicker of the left eyelid, which became an extraordinary book. This book makes you thankful for we have. I read this book within one day.

Late entry — picked up at May Calgary BookCrossing Meetup.

Picked this up from the June Calgary BookCrossing meetup.

Picked up at the July meeting!

Returning to the owner to either be returned to circulation or to come home.

To the finder:
Calgary has an active group of BookCrossers that meet to swap books and discuss book crossing every second Saturday of the month at 11am at Cravings Market on Fairmount Drive SE. We always love to meet new crossers, so please join us any time you like!