Me Again

by Keith Cronin

Overview

Two young stroke victims meet in a hospital . . .

Jonathan's memory is gone, wiped clean by a six-year coma. Since nobody had expected him to recover, his sudden awakening becomes an awkward intrusion on his family and friends.

Rebecca's personality has changed, making her a stranger to her husband. Gone is the vivacious trophy wife, replaced by a shy, awkward woman with a knack for saying exactly the wrong thing.

They don't fit in. And they'll never be the same. But now they've got to decide what matters most: who they were, or who they can become?

A steadily accelerating story exploring the irony, humor, and opportunity that can accompany personal calamity, ME AGAIN follows the intertwined paths of two people forced to start over in life: one looking for his place in a world that has moved on without him, the other struggling to navigate a relationship with a man who wishes she were someone else.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536960754
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	08/17/2011
Pages:	346
Product dimensions:	5.24(w) x 7.99(h) x 0.77(d)

About the Author

Keith Cronin is a corporate speechwriter and professional rock drummer who has performed and recorded with artists including Bruce Springsteen, Clarence Clemons, and Pat Travers. Keith's fiction has appeared in Carve Magazine, Amarillo Bay, The Scruffy Dog Review, Zinos, and a University of Phoenix management course, and he is a regular contributor at the literary blog Writer Unboxed. A native of South Florida, Keith spends his free time serenading local ducks and squirrels with his ukulele. Visit him online at keithcronin.com or facebook.com/keithcronin.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1

I was born on a Tuesday morning. It was a difficult birth, because I was thirty-four years old.

I opened my eyes, and saw a long bar of blue-white light. It hung directly over me, making me realize I was lying on my back. Looking into the light made my eyes hurt, so I closed them, welcoming the darkness. But then it seemed particularly important to see that light again, so I reopened my eyes, blinking repeatedly to adjust to the glare.

I became aware of movement. A blurry female figure clad in white entered my view on one side. I lay staring at her, instinctively trying to blink her into focus, but with no success. Suddenly she drew closer, leaning down over me. For a brief moment our eyes met. Then I blinked.

"Jesus," she said. The name sounded familiar.

She disappeared from view, and I realized that I couldn't raise or turn my head to try to locate her. In fact, the only thing I could feel - or move - was my eyes. I had a vague sense that this was not good.

Although she was out of my sight, I could hear her. She was speaking, a rapid stream of words I wasn't quite able to follow. Other voices joined in, overlapping each other in conversation, and the name Jesus came up repeatedly.

I formed my first conscious thought: I must be Jesus.

What People are Saying About This

Susan Henderson

Heart and humor are inseparable in Keith Cronin's engaging debut. (Susan Henderson, author of Up from the Blue)

Lauren Baratz-Logsted

A work that will make readers laugh and think. (Lauren Baratz-Logsted, author of The Thin Pink Line)

Sara Gruen

A beautifully wrought tale of courage, hope, and awakenings of all kinds. (Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants)

Editorial Reviews

In Cronin's novel, a man emerges from a coma six years after a massive stroke only to find he's changed as much as the world has. Jonathan Hooper's doctors and family call his sudden recovery a miracle, but Jonathan himself isn't so sure. After six years spent in a coma, he has a long road to actual recovery, and even then it's unlikely that he'll ever remember who he used to be. His sole source of comfort is the beautiful Rebecca Chase, a fellow stroke victim who has undergone a dramatic personality shift and, like Jonathan, is confronted with the fact that she may never be the person she once was. But the more Jonathan discovers about his past as an emotionally distant, dishonest businessman, the more he wonders if his amnesia may actually be a blessing. Cronin's debut is an engaging read, utilizing an affable tone and ample humor to temper subject matter that could easily fall into melodrama. The novel shines when navigating the complex interpersonal relationships Jonathan has been thrown back into, as he gets to know not just the family he's unable to remember, but also the man he used to be. The conflict in gathering this information comes from one of the most relatable, frustrating aspects of human interaction--the inclination to avoid emotional harm and confrontation at all costs. Cronin displays an impressive understanding of conversational subtext, and, at its best, the novel's dialogue works on many levels at once without coming across as obtuse. This isn't always consistent, though, with a lot of repetition (particularly some of the oft-repeated jokes) and transparent exposition making some exchanges feel less refined. Everything ties up a little too neatly at the end, and Jonathan never really faces any repercussions for his pre-coma sins, but it's the little triumphs along way--Jonathan's rebirth and personal healing--that feel like the novel's true resolution. Despite its flaws, Cronin's novel ultimately avoids the genre's worst sin--heavy-handedness.

Kirkus Reviews