Man Who Forgot How To Read [Paperback]

"Howard Engel brings to his memoir The Man Who Forgot How to Read all the skills he has learned as a crime writer working on the Benny Cooperman books. It is witty, insightful, moving without being sentimental, and it keeps you turning the pages. I urge you to read it." -- Peter Robinson

Finding the words: the remarkable journey of a bestselling writer struck with a rare and devastating affliction and how he triumphed over his condition.

One hot mid-summer morning in Toronto, bestselling crime novelist Howard Engel got up to fetch his morning paper and discovered he could no longer read it. The letters had mysteriously jumbled themselves into something that looked like Cyrillic one moment and Korean the next. "Was this a Serbo-Croatian version of The Globe?" he wondered. Overnight, while he slept, Engel had experienced a stroke and now suffered from a rare condition called alexia sine agraphia, meaning that while he could still write, he could no longer read. Engel's gentle humour and matter-of- fact tone set the stage for this extraordinary memoir that traces the writer's journey through a life-changing episode. Describing his stay in hospital, Engel also discovers other horrifying and fascinating new "insults" to his brain: Geography eludes him; he can no longer navigate.

Apples and grapefruit now look the same (only by smelling each one can he tell them apart). And yet, despite these devastating disabilities and the almost certain loss of his career and a huge chunk of his identity, Engel prepares to reconcile with his condition. He contacts renowned neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks for advice, forging a lasting friendship. He bravely begins to learn how to read all over again. And, in the face of obstacles, his imagination triumphs in the writing of his latest Benny Cooperman detective novel, Memory Book. Engel describes the painstaking writing process of this 2005 bestseller, which has the detective developing alexia after being struck on the head.

An absorbingly detailed and uplifting story, filled with sly wit and candid insights, The Man Who Forgot How to Read will appeal to Engel's legion of fans, as well as to all those fascinated by the mysteries of the mind, on and off the page.

Howard Engel is the creator of the enduring and beloved detective Benny Cooperman, who, through his appearance in 12 bestselling novels, has become an internationally recognized fictional sleuth. Two of Engel's novels have been adapted for TV movies, and his books have been translated into several languages. He is the winner of numerous awards, including the 2005 Writers' Trust of Canada Matt Cohen Award, the 1990 Harbourfront Festival Prize for Canadian Literature and an Arthur Ellis Award for crime fiction. Howard Engel lives in Toronto.