Down But Not Out

HANIF KUREISHI'S MEMOIR OF A SUDDEN FALL THAT LEFT HIM PARALYSED IS A TALE OF RESILIENCE AGAINST ALL ODDS

- Sunil Sethi

On Boxing Day in 2022, the British-Pakistani writer Hanif Kureishi had a sudden fall while holidaying in Rome with his partner Isabella d’Amico. Kureishi had suffered a severe spinal injury that left him paralysed, unable to walk, feed himself or hold a pen. From an active 68-year-old father of three sons with a vigorous intellectual life, he became wholly dependent, undergoing slow, agonising rehab. Although his speech and brain remained unaffected, he was moved eventually to two hospitals in England. Over the course of a year, Kureishi began to dictate regular blog posts to Isabella, and his sons Carlo, Sachin and