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.




Anyhow, the TV series is based on the books known as the Sookie Stackhouse or Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris. The 9th book was just published, so this creation certainly pre-dates the whole Twilight phenomenon. So after having the first season under my belt, I decided to give the first book in the series, 






