There is something called 'locked-in syndrome', a condition in which one is almost completely paralysed and therefore rendered unable to communicate in the usual ways. In J-D Bauby's case, the only movement available to him was the blinking of his left eyelid, and it was in that way that he 'dictated' this series of short musings, anecdotes and recollections, composed after he suffered the massive stroke that brought on the syndrome.
In its whimsy and gentle discursive swoops of the imagination, it's recognisably French, and the writing has a flow which makes it easy to read; for all that it's concerned with J-D B's life post-stroke (both inner and outer), there's not a self-pitying word in the book. To be frank, it didn't give me much beyond two or three hours' diversion (it's an impressive accomplishment given the circumstances of its composition, but in itself that's not enough), but I didn't begrudge the time spent reading it, either.
