Eli Klein is a Canadian author, biographer and editor whose work is shaped by decades of experience across music, film, festivals, radio and community-led creative spaces. A traumatic brain injury survivor, peer support facilitator and community advocate, Eli brings his lived experience of recovery, resilience and rebuilding into his writing. His memoir, The Shape of After, tells the story of his life before and after a life-changing cycling accident and his journey towards creating a fulfilling life after brain injury. In this review, Crip Life™ co-founder Joanna Baker-Rogers shares her thoughts on Eli’s powerful story and why it is well worth a read.
The Shape of After is about Eli, a real force of nature, and his life before and after a life-changing bike accident. When I read books like this, I know I am going to find them a difficult read. Just as I should, and I did.
However, what makes The Shape of After different is Eli’s zest for life, his warrior-like persona, and dogged determination never to give up, to make the future his own and live a different life, but one that is still more than worth living.
The book had me gripped from the beginning. The Dedication left me wondering how so many people and organisations had to provide the support that has brought Eli, physically and mentally, to where he is today. I was eager to read on and find out.
Eli Klein on his background in music, creative industries and life before his traumatic brain injury
By describing his personal and professional life before the accident, you get a real sense of who Eli is, and this makes the enormity of the consequences of his accident even more profound. How, I wondered, does an entrepreneur, a curator of chaos and culture, and an impresario deal with the bodily and cognitive impairments and build a life that is more than worth living? The book became a page turner.
Eli shared why he had written this book early on. “I wanted to offer something beyond the shock and the grief, a reminder that there is life after brain injury. There is a way forward. If there was hope for me, there is hope for you.” (p7). It reminded me that Eli had a positive future that he confirmed by adding, “Life is different, yes, but it is still rich with meaning and possibility” (p8).
Before the accident, Eli had built a very successful career in live music. The framing of anecdotes as “flashbacks” is tantamount to this. The mixtape moments Eli includes are original, poignant, and well worth a listen. You get a real sense of who Eli is and that music is an integral part of him. The trauma and loss of the death of his father, when he was only thirteen, and Eli’s mental health struggles as an older teenager that led to an attempt on his life and then illegal drug use. With support, he emerged from and entered the world of music. His professional achievements, of which there are many, left me apprehensive to read on, knowing the life-changing event that was to come.
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How did creativity and humour shape Eli Klein’s brain injury recovery?
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The accident on the 14th May 2022 (being doored) is described in stark, cold terms, as is Eli’s time in the emergency room. I’m not surprised that this part of the book took so long for him to write. Five days later to have a stroke seems beyond cruel. I think it was the gradual loss of sight and resulting tunnel vision that hit me the hardest. What made these chapters easier to read was Eli’s personality and humour that he communicates with such clarity. The standing walker named Red Hot Car. The naming of his limbs. The unruly left arm, GuillArmo, that with his other three limbs feels like he is managing a small chaotic theatre company. I love Norm! The funeral of beloved cousin (who left the world far too soon) is worth reading at least twice.
I thought I knew something about recovery from a brain injury. The physio, the occupational therapy. Until I read Eli’s book, I did not. I now have some understanding of the daily struggles, the ebb and flow of recovery and the enormous effort and time it takes to make progress. These chapters also made me view progress and success through a different lens. The celebration of minuscule progress and how important that was. The value in being able to do the everyday mundane tasks that we all take for granted, getting up, dressing, feeding yourself and thinking of these achievements as part of wealth.
The hospitals he stayed in during the earlier part of his recovery, some good and not so good, are a sobering read. I am so glad Eli found Connect homes for brain injury survivors. Not care but life redesign. The Life Redesign Coaches who accelerated his recovery. “They taught me how to live again inside a changed frame” (p113) could not be truer.
What surprised me was Eli’s willingness to use alternative therapies such as mindfulness and whole-self healing. They obviously helped, so I am so glad he did. I also enjoyed reading the other original chapters of this book. Chapter 10: The Disability Dictionary, Chapter 15: The Time I Opened for Megadeath, and Chapter 17: Getting Arrested Sorta. Reading about Eli’s roommates over the years and the importance of family in his recovery was really insightful. Eli writes, “the boys’ early lives seem like a long flashback that keeps replaying whenever things get hard.” (p147). I am so glad they did.
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When Plan B becomes a life worth living
I hope the new place has worked out for Eli. So, read “The Shape of After” and go visit his International Street Summit in October 2026. This is just the sort of event that Eli was born to create. Both will support Eli in his journey that is, in his words, “I’m still here. Not fixed. Not finished. But here, stubbornly, enough for one more hour and then the next” p45.
I give this book 5 stars, and hope Eli may write a sequel in the not-too-distant future.
You can purchase a copy of The Shape of After on Amazon and find out more about Eli Klein by visiting his blog and following him on Instagram.
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