I’ll Be OK, It’s Just a Hole In My Head

A Memoir on Heartache and Head Injury

by Hope Bolinger & Alyssa Roat

I’ll be OK, it’s Just a Hole in My Head: A Memoir on Heartache and Head Injury is a humorous and thoughtful cross between Jill Bolte Taylor’s My Stroke of Insight and Jenny Lawson’s Furiously Happy. Shocking and funny, Hayes’ memoir shares the true story of a sudden brain hemorrhage at the age of twenty-two – and the heartache and strength that it took to overcome it. At first Hayes uses a blanket of comedy to cloak herself from her new reality—after all, sending out funny tweets is far easier than admitting to the world that she’s lost basic motor functions like walking and talking. Humbled by the pain, she must admit to herself that that she is no longer the carefree, 20-something planning to marry her high school sweetheart. With this realization, a brave young woman forces herself to confront her new normal—and to quit cracking jokes about catheters.

REVIEW

4 out of 5

Honestly, I was both intrigued and hesitant about reading this. I suffered a TIA at 25 that completely changed my life. I know that shock, anger, and need to deflect instead of directly deal with the pain and new challenges that have suddenly dropped into your lap. I could feel the emotions oozing off the page, but I can’t be sure that it isn’t my own personal experience with TBIs that made them more intense for me. An emotional read with a powerful message behind it.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mimi Hayes is a New York-based comedian and author of “I’ll Be OK, It’s Just a Hole in My Head.” A former high school teacher and brain injury survivor, Hayes wrote her first memoir while recovering from a traumatic head injury at the age of twenty-two. Her honest take on trauma and love followed her to the stage as a stand-up comedian where she has performed on stages such as Denver Comedy Works, Broadway Comedy Club, Stand Up NY, Dangerfield’s, and The Upright Citizen’s Brigade. She debuted her one-woman show “I’ll Be OK” at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She is writing a TED Talk as well as a TV adaptation of the book. Catch “Mimi and The Brain,” her comedic neuroscience podcast available on all streaming devices. You can cyberstalk her at mimihayes.com, follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@mimihayesbrain), or send her a carrier pigeon.

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