Featured Book And Author

ABOUT THE BOOK

Lazarus is the autobiography of Roderick Wood, a fairly typical Englishman spurred into committing his life story to paper after a sudden heart attack in February 2014. This random tragedy had caused him to be declared medically dead for 27 minutes before a successful resuscitation. Following a several-month recovery period from which his family was told he may never function normally again, he defied expectation and found himself back on his feet and full of old memories and new ideas, “activated … from way back”. Both as part of his recovery process, as well as reignited by his experience, the resulting text is presented here.

The book is heavy with the distinct, unabashed culture of the British working class, and more endearing for it. An obvious warning, therefore, to those far less acquainted to the attitude is that there is a crude, even occasionally repulsive level of detail to events, from drunken mistakes to sexual mishaps. A self-identified Catholic, Wood seems happy to show that he is a flawed individual, displaying ready acceptance of that fact at the same time as showing a long time-line of self-improvement. There are no solid truths or life facts, just experiences. That said, his spiritual beliefs do factor in as he discusses the re-commitment to his faith and the way his recovery has been affected by that, and may be attractive for readers looking for discussion in that vein.