Where Is the Mango Princess?

A Journey Back from Brain Injury

By: Cathy Crimmins

Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie

Humorist Cathy Crimmins has written a deeply personal, wrenching, and often hilarious account of the effects of traumatic brain injury, not only on the victim, in this case her husband, but on the family.

When her husband, Alan, is injured in a speedboat accident, Cathy Crimmins reluctantly assumes the role of caregiver and learns to cope with the person he has become. No longer the man who loved obscure Japanese cinema and wry humor, Crimmins’ husband has emerged from the accident a childlike and unpredictable replica of his former self with a short attention span and a penchant for inane cartoons.

Where Is the Mango Princess? is a breathtaking account that explores the very nature of personality - and the complexities of the heart.

©2000 Cathy Crimmins (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

TBI is devastating

i would like to share my family's story too. people, wear your helmets and take care of your brains.

great listen

I enjoyed how this book stolen to the reality associated with TBI. and was relatable to anybody going through or know someone going through that situation

A Story of Miraculous Recovery Lost

Where Is the Mango Princess was a really miraculous story about a survivor of traumatic brain injury. The survivor’s recovery was physically miraculous and in a very short amount of time. But the profundity of that is lost in the writer’s (his wife’s) grief. It’s told from her perspective and experience so instead of taking in and rejoicing at how quickly Alan is recovering and really exploring his will to recover, there is a tone of aggravation and annoyance throughout the entire book. There is no feeling of hope where there absolutely should be. Despite setbacks and embarrassments to the writer, mostly, this should be a very uplifting book but it’s stuck in the tone of the writer who is grieving the loss of the last version of her husband. There is hope and inspiration in this story but the writer wasn’t telling that story.

Read with caution

My spouse suffered a TBI 13 years ago and this book was a little jarring. Do not recommend reading until you’re at least 5 years out.