Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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I have not, as a rule, been interested in celebrity autobiographies. I was not attracted to Michael J. Fox's latest bestseller, Always Looking Up, for that reason, but last week I was hurtin' for something to review for today, so I picked it up and read the opening page. I was hooked.
Always Looking Up is, and let's just get this one out of the way, a short joke. Michael J. Fox makes fun of himself in many different ways throughout the book, including right off the bat with that reference to his height. The book is a look at the ten years since his retiring from Spin City, something he did when his Parkinson's symptoms became uncontrollable. It is the story of a whole new life created from the ashes of that diagnosis. In Fox's words, "For everything this disease has taken, something with greater value has been given." That something is his optimism.
There are many personal memories and anecdotes in this bestseller, but a considerable portion of the book is devoted to his passion for finding a cure for Parkinson's, a passion that led him to become an advocate for stem cell research, and to get quite political in his advocacy. For some of you who feel equally passionately on the opposite side of this issue, you may not be able to enjoy the book for this reason alone. But I found his voice to be clear and unimposing. For him and others suffering now, the issue is not time-neutral. I can understand why he gets pushy. He is literally fighting for his life.
This is not a how-to book on optimism. It is one man's life story that might help you find your own way to always look up. I give it a major thumbs' up - Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist by Michael J. Fox.
