Sex with a Brain Injury

Starred review from November 27, 2023
Novelist Liontas (Let Me Explain You) details in this excellent memoir-in-essays the physical and emotional effects of living with head trauma. After getting her first concussion at age 35 in a biking accident, Liontas suffered two more within a year. She experienced debilitating migraines and disorientation, often forgetting where she was and fearing that even the slightest contact could reinjure her. Throughout, Liontas blends personal narrative with reportage and historical research to illuminate the shocking prevalence of brain injuries and the institutional mechanisms that cast doubt on those affected by them. In the essay “doubt, my love,” she reckons with the skepticism her chronic illness elicits from others and details how insurance companies and courts have long equated the symptoms of brain trauma with hysteria. The pervasiveness of brain injuries among prisoners is the focus of “professor x and the trauma justice league,” in which Liontas notes that nearly all repeat female offenders have a history of head trauma. The collection not only does the tremendous service of raising awareness about the millions of “wounded walking”; it’s also a profound meditation on love, as Liontas recounts her and her wife’s struggles to remain together in the aftermath of her injury. These unflinching and eye-opening essays wow at every turn. Agent: David McCormick, McCormick Literary.