This was such a great read and to be honest if it wasn't recommended to me, I probably would have passed it over. So glad I didn't miss this one. I was laughing out loud at some parts while feeling horrible about it, knowing I shouldn't be laughing but the author had a way to make the tough things entertaining.

This is a fascinating, inspiring, funny at times, while downright sad at other times, memoir of Drew magary following a fall that caused TBI.
It was a quick read and I really liked the way family and close friends shared how they felt and were altered in their own lives following Drew's injury.
The pages reflect his emotions and his fight to regain "his world",though now different.
This book good, It is really good!
Life can change without warning in a second and when no body expects it.
It is how we cope and learn from it that makes us, us.
Remarkable story!

The Night the Lights Went Out by Drew Magary The author offers an insight as to how life goes on after a traumatic brain injury. Good that he had the support of family and friends throughout. The author's myriad of friends, family and fans who will no doubt appreciate the book. The style of writing and the excessive use of the f-bombs made for an uncomfortable read.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

I read an advanced digital copy of this novel courtesy on the publisher through NetGalley. Review available on goodreads.

If you’re interested in this book, you probably already know Drew. Through his columns over the years, we got to know him and consider him a friend. This book is the story of the night we almost lost our friend and the incredible journey he’s taken (and is still taking) on his recovery. I’m grateful that this book exists. Keep getting better, Drew.

The Night the Lights Went Out is an honest look at what happens when someone faces a sudden and unexpected medical crisis. With wit and honesty, Magary traces the arc that follows: the loss of the familiar, the physical changes that inevitably happen, the anger that ensues, and the emotional toll that loved ones pay after such a dramatic event. The first part of the memoir traces the memories of others who saw part of the event; the three ensuing parts follow what the author endured as he moved from post-comatose victim to an aware adult who must confront his impulses to lash out at others. It is a story that will stay with the reader long after the book is over.

Overall The Night the Lights Went Out provided a unique perspective of what life looks like after a traumatic brain injury. I wish the author were more transparent with the chaotic emotions experienced following such a life-changing event. There were several times that I thought he would get there, but he quickly reverted to the toxic positivity that is often found in this type of story. The book opens with conversations with the author's family and friends during his initial hospitalization and recovery. I wish that that input and style of storytelling would have continued throughout. I did really appreciate the cussing.

WHY YOUR AUTHOR SUCKS: DREW MAGARY
...

Actually Drew wrote a very compelling story about how his brain just stopped working the way it was supposed to one day and tried to kill him.

I find Drew's writing style very relatable and easy to read. His prose works for all of the styles he writes in. I particularly enjoyed the anecdotes from his friends, family & doctors delivered in this book as it gave us a look into not just what he was going through but the people around him as well.

I'm very glad that Drew has been able to recover to some sense of normalcy, as I enjoy both his Defector articles and his books. I hope he has lots of other work in him. Also as an outsider, I can appreciate the actions that he and his former Deadspin colleagues took to stand against some bad corporate governance. He tells us a bit about that story in this book but I feel that maybe there's more to tell - maybe a book similar to this one, written with his former colleagues, about some of the life at Deadspin, its most notorious stories and its death? I'd 100% buy that, just like I plan on buying this one.

I couldn't put this book down. I have read a lot of Drew over the years and it was incredible to read through the personal details of a traumatic event and his lessons learned from it. I imagine a lot of his introspection was difficult to share but I think it will help a lot of people who have similar experiences, or even much milder personal struggles. I'd look forward to another reflective piece a few years down the line when he can compare how he feels to what it was like writing this book, which had to be cathartic.

Thematically, this book is an almost eerie mirror of Drew’s earlier novel “The Hike” - which as it happens I read anxiously during the two weeks he was in the coma that launches Part I. Although he is much too engaging a writer to be anywhere near this basic, this is a book about trauma, and we could all use a good look at that topic after the year we’ve collectively had. The choices we make to deal with our damage - or not! - are not easy things to reflect on under the best of circumstances, and I was touched by how much of his own gross and unflattering journey we got to share.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, and thanks to Drew for beating the odds. Can’t wait for more people to get gut-punched by this excellent read.

I like memoirs, I like Drew Magary, and I really liked this book. Drew's style - always self-deprecating, and in a tone that you can imagine mimics his real-life speech - makes this one an engaging read, despite the tough subject matter. I have been a fan of Drew's for nearly a decade, and am so glad he's still here to share what happened.

As a fan of Drew’s from the Deadspin days, I remember worrying about him when his accident happened. In his signature style, Drew looks back at his accident, using an oral history of the accident night and his hospitalization and prose for rehab, to explore what happened to him. Very interesting and quite self aware. Drew’s reflection on his long recovery, as a father and husband, hit home. Really enjoyed.

Maybe I should preface this review with the fact that if Drew Magary writes it, I am reading it. Whether it's "Why Your Team Sucks" (and it's the Vikings so yes, they suck out my soul) or a quasi SciFi love story, I am there. This book, however, was something beautiful and unique and unlike anything of his that I had ever read.

The Night the Lights Went Out broke me down and then helped me to heal again. In our newly mournful post Covid work, this was a perfect read. It seems we have all lost so much in the last 24 months, so who better to guide us on a journey than a man who very honestly tells a story of nearly losing his life, his brain, his smelling, taste and, at times, himself.

The time of Mr. Magary's "lights out" is told by his friends and loved ones, who happen to be a very talented and honest group of people. As the actual occurrence to this day remains a mystery, we begin our journey with them. If you have ever been with a loved one who has fought a seemingly impossible medical battle, this will be familiar. The times are scary, desperate and yet hopeful and are illustrated amazingly.

This journey continues as the author battles his way back to trying to be the man he once was while overcoming obstacles that so many of us take for granted. The smell of se air. The taste of smoked meat. The sound of an amazing song. These things we enjoy everyday without so much as a second thought are suddenly ripped away and along with them, the person who once was also able to experience these everyday joys.

Reading this made me laugh, cry and god help me - appreciate the smell of a fart. It was a lesson in love, the human spirit and overcoming odds from a person who was brutally honest in a way that is seemingly hard to find in today's glossy IG ready and filtered world.

Read this, appreciate your life, mourn what you have lost and then go out and appreciate life and all the people and senses we all take for granted.

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced read!

Wow! To think Drew went to work, hosted a fun little award show for his team and was ready to let loose at a local bar with his friends when the lights went out.....but just for Drew. Apparently, his coworkers found him down in the hall after an apparent fall. From there he is taken to the hospital, emergency surgery and in a medically induced coma. I like how Drew had each of the loved ones around him share their recollection of what they remember during this period of time. So many unknowns and what ifs. This book kept me intrigued and I could not put it down, I wanted to know more. Loved Drew's honesty of his recovery story and all the things that he struggled with, including hearing and taste.

Having lost my father to a brain tumor, anything brain related hits close to home (obviously not the same thing,but degraded brain function is somewhat in common between the two). I've also read much of Drew's work over the years and always enjoyed his voice. I was a little afraid this book would be a repackaging of his essay with the same title, with a little bit added around it. Reader, it was not. This book is in a different, more personal & genuine voice that I can relate to even more than his typical online persona.

His story is harrowing to read, but highly recommended.

Thank you to Net Galley and Rodale Inc. // Harmony for the advanced copy for granting me this wish! I've been a fan of Drew Magary's work for some time (my favorite being his yearly breakdown of the William Sonoma Christmas catalog). I have always loved how real and genuine his writing feels.

Somehow I missed this major episode in his life. Magary suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) after hosting a Deadspin event a few years ago. The book chronicles the event and his recovery. I liked how he chose to let the people who were with him the night of his TBI tell the story of what happened through when he woke up out of his medically induced coma. Getting the first hand account from those involved help frame the story and introduce the reader to his compassionate friends and family.

He also writes about his experience with the health care industry and the barriers put up by insurance companies.

Magary's story is fascinating and his writing is touching and hilarious. I have worked with TBIs and my father suffered a severe stroke a number of years ago. This book was comforting to me. It helped me understand what happens to the brain when a TBI occurs and how unpredictable the damage and recovery can be.

Highly recommend this book!

The lights went out for Drew Magary on December 5th, 2018 in a karaoke bar in Manhattan. They nearly never came back on. But I am so grateful that they did. On that night, Drew collapsed onto a cement floor and was left with a subdural hematoma that was going to take on his brain like Godzilla took on Tokyo. Did the fall cause the hemorrhage or did the hemorrhage cause the fall? No one will ever know. The only thing that was certain was that Drew was at the precipice of death when the surgeons at Mt. Sinai Hospital were able to stop his free fall with just his toes gripping the cliff's edge. Put into a medically induced coma, his friends, co-workers and his extraordinary wife, Sonia tell the story of what happened as he laid in the coma for two weeks.

This is not a Rocky script with Drew yelling "Hey , Sonia!" as everyone cheers. This is a raw, honest telling of the rebuilding of a human - first the body, then the mind, finally the soul. He is courageous as he tells of his bad behavior, his self absorption and his depression. There is also great honesty as he learns to allow himself to be vulnerable with his family. The book covers the meat grinder of feelings that those who love him are put through. Setback after setback. Struggle after struggle. But also the victories and triumphs both small and large as he fights his way not so much back, but to the new place and new person he has become. I always say that birth is messy - rebirth, maybe more so, But this is Drew Magary, the man who won Chop't! He will just take all the same ingredients and make a new dish. And Sonia, I only hope that I can show the courage that she did in keeping her children safe and secure while fighting insurance companies and doctors if I am ever tested in this way,
This is an incredible gut wrenching book. It is 'It's a Wonderful Life" as directed by Tarantino. You won't finish this book and look at life the same. So dive in and do a little soul remodeling,
My very big thanks to NetGalley and Harmony for the ARC of The Night The Lights Went Out".

Right from the author's note at the start of this book you know that Magary will be finding humour in a tough topic. This is a very in-depth look at the ramifications of a near death brain injury. Magary does not sugar coat the trauma, nor soften his actions. It is raw and honest, and at times very funny.

The author starts us off with first hand comments from friends, family and medical staff after a trauma leaves him almost dead, and then takes us through the different steps to his recovery. Throughout the story you learn a lot about side effects and complications. You learn of the interconnectedness of our senses and the fragility of the entire system.

Brain injuries are so difficult and recovery so varying; this book gives a good glimpse into some things that can happen for anyone loving someone going through a similar experience or experiencing this first hand. Hopefully the insights and laughs will help with a difficult situation.

'...but stair lifts cost a fortune and I refused to be stair-lift years old.'

'No recovery has ever happened in a straight line."

'I couldn't fucking smell. Not even asparagus pee registered.'

'There was no need to sort out which parts of me had been affected by brain damage and which parts of me were, frankly, just always annoying.'

'I had a duty to these people to be a man worth saving, and I was derelict in that duty. I had forgotten to be grateful for what I had and to love what I loved.'

Thank you to Harmony Books, Penguin Random House LLC, New York as well as NetGalley for providing me an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An excellent book that gives you a good in sight to people who have severe brain damage and the pain and hardship they have to endure. The views of the family are an integral part of the story and its very well written. You can visually imagine the hospital and the journey he's taking throughout the full book.
A recommended book overall a good read who has very supportive family.