Slow Dance (CL)

In 1987, Klein, a Canadian documentary filmmaker (Not a Love Story), suffered two strokes that left her paralyzed, unable to speak and near death. Fortunately, as soon as the persistent author's husband Michael (then chief of family medicine at Jewish General Hospital) discovered that Klein's problem was caused by a supposedly inoperable brain mass, he flew his wife to London, where he found a neurosurgeon who successfully excised most of the mass. Based on the tapes and journals Klein kept during her illness and the long rehabilitation period that followed, this account clearly details the physical and psychological aspects of recovering from such a serious illness. She graphically describes her persistent pain, the loss of bladder and bowel control, as well as her growing awareness of the plight of those whom society designates as disabled. Klein, who now walks with the help of a cane, credits rehab workers and other health-care professionals who encouraged her to struggle for a creative life and express anger at those who did not. She and her husband are committed to the disability-rights movement which fights to change the distorted, but common, images of the disabled. More of an activist's memoir than Robert McCrumb's My Year Off (Forecasts, June 15), Klein's book is likely to have a smaller audience but will be a valuable resource for anyone who has experienced a stroke. Editor, Roy M. Carlisle; agent, Denise Bukowski. (Sept.)