"At the center of this elegant, painful, stunningly honest memoir thrums a question fundamental to what it means to be human: What do we do with what we've been given?... What is truly exceptional here is watching a writer of fine fiction probe, directly, carefully and with great humility, the source from which his fiction springs."
--Dani Shapiro, "New York Times Book Review"
"A remarkable, beyond-brave memoir that offers an intensely personal look at the most agonizing events in the author's post-accident life... With astounding frequency, Strauss pinpoints truths that most of us would find indescribable."
--Stephan Lee, "O, The Oprah Magazine"
"I recently went on a trip with a couple of friends, one of whom brought along "Half a Life." The book's slender enough that the three of us devoured it in three days--and beautifully written enough that we spent the rest of the trip discussing it.... A critically acclaimed novelist ("Chang and Eng"), Strauss waited over 20 years to tell this story. And his distance from it is one of the things I liked best. Too many memoirs suffer from lack of perspective. But Strauss explores memory, guilt, and coming-of-age from a mature vantage point that leads to enormous insight.... You may have heard Strauss tell this tale on NPR's "This American Life." Here's the written version, by a terrific storyteller who doesn't waste a word. Grade: A"
--Pam Abrams, "Entertainment Weekly"
"With honesty and sensitivity, Strauss looks not only at how that fateful incident decades ago ended Celine's young life, but also at how it greatly affected his. Out of undoubtedly complicated circumstances, he crafts a simple yet remarkable story about pain and guilt, maturity and responsibility, hope and understanding."
--Christina Eng, "San Francisco Chronicle"
""Half a Life" is an unusually honest, thoughtful and unsettling memoir, which readers and critics are destined to call 'brave'--for it is brave. But the book --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Darin Strauss is the best-selling author of three previous books. The recipient of a Guggenheim in fiction writing and numerous other awards, Strauss has seen his work translated into fourteen languages, and published in more than twenty countries. He is a Clinical Associate Professor of Writing at New York University, and he lives with his wife and children in Brooklyn.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.