THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY

``Through the frayed curtain at my window, a wan glow announces the break of day. My heels hurt, my head weighs a ton, and something like a giant invisible cocoon holds my whole body prisoner.'' Thus begins the remarkable testimony of Bauby, who was editor-in-chief of French Elle when he was felled by a stroke in December 1995. The stroke left every inch of his body paralyzed- -except for his left eyelid, which he could blink. But his mind was fully alive, capable of the whole range of thought and feeling from dry wit to sadness to tenderness, and by blinking in response to letters recited by an amanuensis, he dictated ``these bedridden travel notes'' about being locked inside his body. It shows that his rich heart, too, was alive and beating, but it finally gave way in March of this year, two days after the French publication of his book. (First printing of 100,000)