I cried my way through this book, trying to imagine if I would have had the courage to write a book after having a massive stroke, resulting in Locked in Syndrome, leaving only the blink of one eyelid as the one function left as a human being. I wondered if, as Bauby did, I could also have made a pact with an extraordinary woman who helped to develop the language of translation possible to produce this book. I don’t think I could have – Bauby’s fierce courage seems beyond human, his tenderness the very essence of being human.