The Night the Lights Went Out

Drew Magary, co-owner and columnist of Defector.com, has made a name for himself with his “biting” hot takes and comical essays. He often covers sports stories, but also branches out, having published threescience fiction and fantasy novels. 

He has an established comic voice, typically leaning into a specific “Drew Magary” character. His essays are centered around light-hearted, relatable topics like dad sounds and his life as a “robe guy” while his fiction work centers around humor and world building. He swears constantly and loves driving home punchlines with CAPITALIZED STATEMENTS for full comedic impact. 

His most recent book, however, is more serious. The Night the Lights Went Out: a Memoir of Life After Brain Damage describes the aftermath of a freak accident: In 2018, Magary fell into a coma after suffering a severe, potentially fatal, subdural hematoma, resulting in the loss of most of his hearing and his sense of smell.

In this memoir, Magary discusses his difficult recovery process with open eyes and unflinching transparency. He describes his feelings of irritability, anger and confusion, ruefully analyzing how he lashed out at family and friends before seeking therapy. 

But he does so while staying true to his trademark humor (and random CAPITALIZATIONS). Magary typically writes about topics that relate to his readers, and his tone has always been glib, hilarious, and a bit rambunctious. It’s easy to infuse that tone in articles about napping or coffee, but talking about a serious medical condition that changed your life can make it difficult to maintain that voice.

Magary pushes through his trauma using his own unique voice to find a new way to relate to his readers by embracing his disabilities with the same joyful world building of his sci-fi/fantasy novels and sidesplitting bluntness of his take-down columns. 

By keeping his voice consistent, Magary writes about the highs (or at least the joys of Yahtzee) and lows of life while connecting with his readers in an impactful way. Even after the lights went out.