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disappeared. Twenty-five years later themystery is no nearer to being solved andCynthia is still haunted by unansweredquestions.Bauby,Jean-Dominique The Diving-Bell and the ButterflyOn December 8, 1995, Jean-DominiqueBauby’s life was forever altered whena part of his body he’d never heard of--his brain stem--was rendered inactive.The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, hisexquisitely painful memoir, is neithera triumphant account of recovery nora journey into the abyss of self-pity.Instead, it is a tender testament to thepower of language and love. At 43,Bauby was defined by success, wit andcharisma. But in the course of a fewbewildering minutes, the editor-in-chiefof French Elle became a victim of therare locked-in syndrome. The only wayhe could express his frustration was byblinking his left eye. The rest of his bodycould no longer respond. Bauby wasdetermined to escape the paralysis of hisdiving bell and free the butterflies of hisimagination.