Always Looking Up (#13)

While I might not have a whole lot of running commentary of what's going on in the world these days, there's always a new... or should I say... and old book to write about.

This next book was a continuation of my "snap out of it"/"get happy" reading, though at this point it was less about my mental health than having just read a series of "darker" books. But after getting some good perspectives from The Geography of Bliss, I hoped to continue that inspiration with Michael J. Fox's Always Looking Up: The Adventure of an Incurable Optimist.  It seemed like a no-lose situation and it's hard to think of someone more likable than Fox or how one couldn't be inspired by his battle with Parkinson's.

My regular readers might know where this is going... going in with high or different expectations and not having them delivered... and that's really tough to admit when it comes to this book, because it is really hard to be critical of Fox, who I do genuinely like... and oddly enough, I did enjoy him on the a television special that was a companion piece to this book.

I had a similar experience several years back when I read Lance Armstrong's memoir.  I certainly respected the guy's athletic accomplishments, even more so coming back from the brink of death... but in the end, I really didn't end up liking the guy very much.  Their was a smugness or bravado, which I think is a requirement to be a world-class athlete, but it still rubbed me the wrong way.  Funny enough, it was Armstrong's appearance in this book that was the initial "expectations" blow in this book.  Fox patterned his own Parkinson's research/charity after Armstrong's own Livestrong program, so they sort of become friends during one of Armstrong's last wins at the Tour de France (way before this year's comeback attempt)... as Fox and family were vacationing in France at the time, with Fox and Robin Williams ending up riding the pace car down the Champs Elysees at Tour's end.

And this is where I had a hard time with the book and it's not Fox's fault, but just my expectations of the book not being met.  What I thought was going to be an inspiring, "how I get through the day" stuff... ultimately it wasn't any different than any other celebrity memoir... but given Fox's likability, not with any dirt or scandal!  So Fox does not emerge as the "every" or common man, but one with a very privileged Hollywood-type lifestyle (though living primarily in NYC).  I suspect it is not so hard to be an "incurable optimist" when your name is a big ole foot in the door and you have millions in your checking account and need not worry about insurance coverage and/or getting the possible best medical care.  Again, I repeat this is not Fox's fault, his success was well-earned and it is admirable what he is now doing with his life... but again, the book was just not terribly relate-able... the only thing to glean, was an appreciation of having a loving family and good friends, which Fox certainly has (again) in spades.  (And again, a bit too "perfect" and only further exacerbated by cloyingly named children: Aquinnah, Schuyler, and Esmé).

Ultimately, the book became a battle between cynic meeting optimist, and the being the former a lot more than the latter, I'll tell you the cynic usually wins... though no regrets having read the book and not to discourage others from doing so, just a caveat that it's more celebrity than inspiration.

Comments

[Scot]

Lance Armstrong is a fucking idiot. There, I said it. :o)
Not just because he left his wife who stood by him through all the crap THEY went through. Not just because he left her after she worked her butt off to support them while he rode his bike. Not just because he publicly humilated her while he had his affair with Cheryl Crow.
He's a fucking idiot because after winning the Tour - last time he did it, he was on some talk show, Letterman, Oprah, don't know, don't care, he said he would rather be known as a person who won the fight against cancer than a multiple winner of the Tour De France. GET REAL!
This is one of the few times I'll talk about it but I did a 4 year tour of that war and the last thing I want is to be known as is a cancer survivor. Its part of my biography but it's not what I want to be known as. I would rather be known as a person who laughs alot, who makes others laugh, shares a smile. Something everybody can relate to, not sympathize with or at. Being a cancer survivor is such a small part of my identity that I hate giving it a second thought. People who dwell on it are just manipulators of other people's emotions, AKA fucking idiots.
Now, that said, please tell me that Michael J. Fox doesn't spend every page of his book filled with a self-pitying attitude like Armstrong does.
Side note: those yellow Live-strong wrist bands that sooooo many people wore - except for armstrong himself - were often confused with the yellow do-not-resuscitate bands that many hospitals use.
By the way, Scott Hamilton is one of the coolest people I've ever met!
Sorry about the rant.