Overview

What would you have left if you awoke and were told you would be paralysed from the eyes down for the rest of your life? After an almost fatal car crash and a botched surgery to repair nerve damage, that was Clay Byars's reality at eighteen years old. Determination became the only constant in his life from that point on, and, miraculously, he quickly began to defy the odds. Clay discovered a life far different from that of his identical twin brother, Will. As Clay's life changed in an unimaginable way, Will's continued as a typical college freshmen with the world at his feet, providing not only a foil to Clay's inability to live a normal life but a sense of familiarity and connection to himself. As Will went on to graduate, marry, and start a family, Clay carved out a unique existence, doing the seemingly impossible by living on his own on a remote farm in Alabama. With haunting clarity in an eloquent yet unsentimental retelling, Clay shares the unlikely story of his life and his coping mechanisms, including weekly singing lessons that do more than teach him to use his voice again - they remind him of his will to exist. In Will & I, the most striking parts of the story are not the details of a tragedy but the piercing insights that decorate Clay's sparse, honest way of seeing the world and bravely challenging himself and his abilities at every turn.

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9780374290283

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Reviews

A tragic accident gives birth to a writer . . . This memoir of recovery against considerable odds traces the relationship between the brothers, their innate closeness, and what changed after the accident and what didn't. . . His memoir is remarkably free of sentimentality or self-pity. He found both an outlet and a vocation in his writing, and he had to come to terms with the loss of those who had been prepared to lose him. A stark, honest book that reads like a writer's apprenticeship amid harrowing circumstances. Kirkus A story from the fine edge where soul and body meet, Will & I explores our common vulnerability and the tiny decisions and accidents that bloom in our lives. Clay Byars writes with gentle wisdom, great kindness, and a deep respect for simple profundity of life. Catherine Lacey, author of Nobody Is Ever Missing Will & I is proof that there is a sideways path to honesty not the cliche of settled honesty or sentimental truth but a sideways path that keeps opening and striving, finally arriving at the next unexpected turn. Under the veil of direct telling, the book brilliantly enacts a complex construction reconstruction and ultimate surrender of a self to the vagaries of existence. As a person, Clay Byars had to learn how to sing in order to speak; as a writer, he has given us a very beautiful first song. Brent Hendricks, author of A Long Day at the End of the World

A tragic accident gives birth to a writer . . . This memoir of recovery against considerable odds traces the relationship between the brothers, their innate closeness, and what changed after the accident and what didn't. . . His memoir is remarkably free of sentimentality or self-pity. He found both an outlet and a vocation in his writing, and he had to come to terms with the loss of those who had been prepared to lose him. A stark, honest book that reads like a writer's apprenticeship amid harrowing circumstances. Kirkus An elegant, spare, and at times wry memoir . . . One thing is clear: Byars can write, and readers of this slim narrative it can almost be read in one sitting are sure to follow Byars wherever he may lead us next. Booklist An unusual and strikingly beautiful piece of memory work. John Jeremiah Sullivan, author of Pulphead A story from the fine edge where soul and body meet, Will & I explores our common vulnerability and the tiny decisions and accidents that bloom in our lives. Clay Byars writes with gentle wisdom, great kindness, and a deep respect for simple profundity of life. Catherine Lacey, author of Nobody Is Ever Missing Will & I is proof that there is a sideways path to honesty not the cliche of settled honesty or sentimental truth but a sideways path that keeps opening and striving, finally arriving at the next unexpected turn. Under the veil of direct telling, the book brilliantly enacts a complex construction reconstruction and ultimate surrender of a self to the vagaries of existence. As a person, Clay Byars had to learn how to sing in order to speak; as a writer, he has given us a very beautiful first song. Brent Hendricks, author of A Long Day at the End of the World

A visceral, electric memoir. Dannye Romine Powell, The Charlotte Observer [An] intensely powerful memoir . . . Compact, substantial and thoroughly compelling reminiscent of neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi s posthumous bestseller, When Breath Becomes Air. Alice Cary, BookPage In this memoir of suffering and recovery, Narrative editor Byars recounts his struggle to master a body shattered by tragedy . . A fascinating, if chilling, meditation on the aftermath of trauma . . . A remarkable conclusion to his long calvary. Publishers Weekly A tragic accident gives birth to a writer . . . This memoir of recovery against considerable odds traces the relationship between the brothers, their innate closeness, and what changed after the accident and what didn't. . . His memoir is remarkably free of sentimentality or self-pity. He found both an outlet and a vocation in his writing, and he had to come to terms with the loss of those who had been prepared to lose him. A stark, honest book that reads like a writer's apprenticeship amid harrowing circumstances. Kirkus An elegant, spare, and at times wry memoir . . . One thing is clear: Byars can write, and readers of this slim narrative it can almost be read in one sitting are sure to follow Byars wherever he may lead us next. Booklist An unusual and strikingly beautiful piece of memory work. John Jeremiah Sullivan, author of Pulphead A story from the fine edge where soul and body meet, Will & I explores our common vulnerability and the tiny decisions and accidents that bloom in our lives. Clay Byars writes with gentle wisdom, great kindness, and a deep respect for simple profundity of life. Catherine Lacey, author of Nobody Is Ever Missing Will & I is proof that there is a sideways path to honesty not the cliche of settled honesty or sentimental truth but a sideways path that keeps opening and striving, finally arriving at the next unexpected turn. Under the veil of direct telling, the book brilliantly enacts a complex construction reconstruction and ultimate surrender of a self to the vagaries of existence. As a person, Clay Byars had to learn how to sing in order to speak; as a writer, he has given us a very beautiful first song. Brent Hendricks, author of A Long Day at the End of the World

Author Information

Clay Byars attended the Sewanee School of Letters in Tennessee and is an assistant editor for Narrative Magazine. He lives with his two dogs on a farm outside Birmingham, Alabama.

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