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ABOUT THE BOOK
What if you woke up and your entire identity was gone?
In Leaving La-La Land: Escape to Reality, loss is absolute: memory slips away, time dissolves, identity fractures, and even the body refuses to obey. Rob’s life shatters without warning. One moment, he’s renovating his condo; the next, he’s collapsed on the floor, discovered only because his contractor hears the fall. When he opens his eyes in a hospital bed, the real nightmare begins. He doesn’t know where he is, who he is, or what’s happening to him—and neither do the doctors.
Rob becomes the center of a medical mystery. Specialists surround him with theories, tests, and urgent questions, but answers remain elusive. As his body falters, his mind drifts somewhere far stranger.
Trapped between consciousness and chaos, Rob is pulled into vivid, surreal worlds that feel more real than reality itself. He is no longer a patient—he is a fighter in a secret Muay Thai tournament, a husband in Japan trapped in a quiet, crumbling marriage. These alternate lives are intense, emotional, and terrifyingly convincing, offering fragments of meaning as his true self slips further away.
Meanwhile, nurses and doctors meticulously document his behaviour, piecing together a story he cannot tell. Through their notes and his haunting dream fragments, a portrait of his experience slowly emerges.
Eventually diagnosed with a rare and baffling brain condition—encephalopathy—Rob begins, against overwhelming odds, to return. But he does not come back unchanged. Recovery doesn’t restore who you were; it transforms you into someone new. His recovery is incomplete, his transformation permanent.
A rare and powerful memoir told from the patient’s perspective, Leaving La-La Land: Escape to Reality guides readers through both the illness and the experience of encephalopathy. Gripping, surreal, and deeply human, it explores the fragile boundary between reality and illusion—and asks a haunting question: if you lose your mind, how do you find your way back?
A rare and powerful memoir told from the patient’s perspective, Leaving La-La Land: Escape to Reality guides readers through both the illness and the experience of encephalopathy. Gripping, surreal, and deeply human, it explores the fragile boundary between reality and illusion—and asks a haunting question: if you lose your mind, how do you find your way back?
More than a Memoir
Dear Readers
This book is more than a memoir; it’s a “mind-bending memoir” that explores the human physical, psychological, and emotional changes caused by encephalopathy, a brain disease.
It’s been called an invitation to understand the power and fragility of the human mind, a psychological odyssey, and a meditation on being alive that immerses you into the very architecture of the mind.
This book is a front-row seat to a mind in the middle of collapse and reinvention, allowing readers to inhabit a medical crisis step by disorienting step, thought by fractured thought, following a mind, memory, identity, and sense of reality that are suspended.
One reader says this story is a human journey that makes you think about your life, loved ones, and how quickly life can change. While others say this story is about resilience and survival, more than a medical memoir.
Please enjoy the book, as many others have.
Rob Bosscha
Reviews
"An exploration from hopelessness - loss of basic functioning to a journey of recovery. A lasting taste of the 'what if' possibilities."
- Reedsy Discovery Review
"A perfect read for readers drawn to memoir, neuroscience, and the fragility of identity."
- The Prairies Book Review
"An absorbing, humane account of neurological illness that brings rare visibility to an interior world most patients cannot articulate."
- BookView Review
"The narration is vulnerable . . . it reflects on personal unraveling and rediscovery of oneself. . . A philosophical memoir about post-illness discovery, Leaving La-La Land is about recovering a lost grip on reality."
- Foreword Clarion Reviews
"This book offers a rare, honest look into the confusion, memory loss, and emotional isolation. . . Robert writes with raw honesty about the daily realities of recovery. . .Robert’s voice adds a vital human perspective to a condition that is too often misunderstood or hidden — making this not only a compelling read but an important one."
- Michelle Shahbazyan, MS, MA, Executive Life Coach and Counselor
"This complex memoir is well organized. . . This story of survival provides insight into a world that is little understood. . . A disturbing and frightening but highly informative tale, with encouragement for fellow sufferers."
- Kirkus Reviews
See what others are saying about Leaving La-La Land!
Interviews
"I did not start out to write a book. I started writing down these crazy dreams I remember while at the same time having no memory of the real events around me. Over ninety days after being admitted to the hospital, my memory was full of these dreams, which were occupying my brain. I thought that writing them down would do two things: first, ease the time these dreams were occupying my brain, and second, maybe retrieve some real memories."
- Robert K. Bosscha - BookView Interview
Robert K Bosscha responds to questions about the insiration to write this book; what readers can take away: and what is unique about the book.
- Robert K. Bosscha - ReadersMagnet interview
Robert K Bosscha discusses "Leaving La-La Land: Escape to Reality" with Kate Delaney.
Kate Delaney is an Emmy Award–winning broadcaster, bestselling author, and one of the most listened-to voices in talk radio today, with over 20,000 interviews under her belt and multiple Golden Mics to her name.
As the host of America Tonight, she reaches 2.9 million listeners. Through her popular segment Author’s Corner, she’s helped thousands of authors gain the media exposure they need to break through the noise.
- Robert K. Bosscha - Kate Delaney interview
Leaving La-La Land Video- Proof of Concept
Other Author Activities
A main purpose of writing 'Leaving La-La Land: Escape to Reality" is to increase awareness of encephalopathy from a patient's perspective and hope for partial recovery. Presentations, group discussions and round table sessions support this purpose. If you are interested in securing Robert for an activity, please complete the Contact Form, below.
Round Table Sessions
Encephalopathy Presentations
Book Clubs
I have been very fortunate to have worked with a number of book clubs, spreading the awareness and understanding of the impact of encephalopathy. There are too many to mention independently and some have social media presence and others do not. If you belong to a book club and are interested in highlighting 'Leaving La-La Land: Escape to Reality," please contact me below.
About the Author
RObert K. BOSSCHA
Robert K. Bosscha is an author, organizational development specialist, and survivor of the life-altering encephalopathy journey described in this, his first book. With Leaving La-La Land, he hopes to fill in the gap of encephalopathy information as told from a patient’s perspective, providing hope for (partial) recovery to those—or those with loved ones—facing similar odds.
Outside of his writing, Rob enjoys many activities that keep his mind busy, such as completing jigsaw puzzles. He continues to live with encephalopathy at an independent living retirement community in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.