Inside Hanif Kureishi’s Shattered: A Raw Journey Through Fame, Family, and Fragility
Shattered: A Memoir (Ecco; February 2025) starts with Kureishi recounting the accident that changed his life. Feeling ill while watching television, Kureishi fell forward and awoke in a pool of blood with his neck twisted. As a result, Kureishi lost the use of his arms and legs. The memoir, recounting both the event and his recovery that follows, is dictated to his partner, Isabella, and his three sons.
Within the first few pages of Shattered, writing and collaboration emerge as a haven of creativity for Kureishi and his family to process his accident, heal emotional and physical distress, and evaluate their altered futures. He writes, “This writing I have done in hospital, dictated to Carlo and my family, has sustained me. I want to keep going (267).”
