This is not an autobiography, but a non-chronological exploration of the author's 17 (seventeen!) brushes with death, each episode named for a different part of the body. Attacks at machete-point, nearly-road-accidents, a dreadful experience of childbirth, her actually volunteering to be the target of a blindfolded fairground knife-thrower: all these and more are graphically and tenderly brought to life. Most affecting is the last quarter of the book, where she describes her own debilitating and long-running experience of the after-effects of a virus: and then her daughter's even worse experiences as the child's excruciating eczema is finally diagnosed as an allergic reaction. It's compelling, sometimes angry, often visceral. She's graphic at describing pain, fear, despair. Impossible not to experience at least some empathy for O'Farrell and her experiences. And yet she's still here, bringing her experience to bear on her other work, in which she brings fictional characters and their dramas to life, informed no doubt by her own experiences. ( )

I absolutely adored this book. I Am, I Am, I Am examines Maggie O'Farrell's life in a very nontraditional way; each chapter takes a look at a near death experience that she has endured at some point throughout her lifetime. These experiences are not told chronologically, rather they are told through experiences that seamlessly intertwine with one another.

While at times it is quite hard to read, especially the chapters concerning her many miscarriages and her childhood illness, it was so beautifully written and profound. What I found to be most interesting about this memoir was the fact that O'Farrell never once sounded as though she wanted sympathy from her readers or even a sense of understanding. She just wrote about her life, in the least pretentious way possible... which also happens to be the most readable.

O'Farrell's writing is so flawless and I found myself in awe of some her passages. Needless to say, I am so eager to read her fiction. ( )

I read Hamnet last month and while I didn’t love that as much as many, I could see how beautiful the writing was so when @somethingarosie shared some snippets of this book I was intrigued not just by the writing but also the premise.

Maggie O’Farrell presents us with seventeen near-death experiences from her life, some fleeting, some more urgent and all with a sense of connection to what life means; how often it is only in the moments when it may be taken away that we reflect on how precious life is. This memoir is written beautifully. The stories jump back and forth in time from Maggie at 18 to her as a child to more recent times navigating childbirth as well as pregnancy loss.

While our experiences are not the same, I couldn’t help reflecting on my own near-death experiences. The car crash I shouldn’t have walked away from, the flight to my brother’s wedding with my whole family where we had to skirt the edges of a hurricane, the near drowning at 5 years old when I was convinced I didn’t need my armbands because a boy my age at the beach wasn’t wearing them.

By the last chapter where Maggie talks about her daughter, the fear of death is so palpable that I found it impossible to step away. ( )

There are not enough stars to rate this beautifully written, intimate memoir. I could not put it down once I started and I cant recall the last time I was so moved. Please, if you are looking for something with real depth and gorgeous writing, read this! ( )

I've read two five star novels by Maggie O'Farrell now (Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait) and I finally made time to dip a toe into her back catalogue. I'd previously worried that I Am, I Am, I Am - Seventeen Brushes with Death would be a misery memoir and I'm just not interested in that type of book. However, I listened to the sample and decided to give this a try and thankfully, I was richly rewarded for taking the chance.

I Am, I Am, I Am - Seventeen Brushes with Death is a memoir by Maggie O'Farrell that deals with seventeen separate experiences in her life, seventeen times she could have died, and didn't.

Near death experiences or NDEs are fascinating, but not what this is about.

I Am, I Am, I Am is about the circumstances leading up to each episode and the personal reflection and self assessment the author shares with us. Maggie O'Farrell is able to establish an instant intimacy with the reader by stripping herself bare and sharing her inner most thoughts and revelations from different points in her life with us.

Motherhood and love is at the heart of most of these stories, as is an uncompromising and unflinching self awareness.

The language and writing is absolutely sublime, and Daisy Donovan narrated the audiobook I listened to with passion and spirit and perfect interpretation of mood, subject and feeling.

At the end of I Am, I Am, I Am - Seventeen Brushes with Death I didn't feel weighed down by a hard life, as you might expect. Instead I felt inspired, invigorated and brimming with admiration for this amazing, fierce, complicated, intelligent, flawed and brilliant woman.

Highly recommended! ( )