I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death

In this astonishing memoir, the New York Times bestselling author of The Marriage Portrait and Hamnet shares the seventeen near-death experiences that have punctuated and defined her life.

The childhood illness that left her bedridden for a year, which she was not expected to survive. A teenage yearning to escape that nearly ended in disaster. An encounter with a disturbed man on a remote path. And, most terrifying of all, an ongoing, daily struggle to protect her daughter from a condition that leaves her unimaginably vulnerable to life's myriad dangers.

Here, O'Farrell stiches together these discrete encounters to tell the story of her entire life. In taut prose that vibrates with electricity and restrained emotion, she captures the perils running just beneath the surface, and illuminates the preciousness, beauty, and mysteries of life itself.
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304 pages

Average rating: 7.4

50 RATINGS

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2 REVIEWS

Community Reviews

hideTurtle
Dec 27, 2023
7/10 stars
Maggie O'Farrell shares many incidents where she skirted death. Each chapter tells a different story, revealing how fragile life can be and the evolution of O'Farrell's understanding of that fragility and her appreciation for how precious life really is. This read was particularly interesting to me, since I was also reading the novel 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World at the same time. Both books explored similar themes.
Anonymous
Apr 26, 2023
6/10 stars
I'm thisclose to chalking up my "meh-ness" for this memoir to me being in the wrong mood. I'm currently in the third trimester of pregnancy, and I'm often tired and agitated.

I read this in just a couple sittings and didn't find it to drag at all. Some "brushes with death" were more gasp worthy than others, but all the stories were interesting. I cannot believe some of the things she has lived through and how she has managed to keep going. I like...read more

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