No time like the future : an optimist considers mortality / Michael J. Fox.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A moving account of resilience, hope, fear and mortality, and how these things resonate in our lives, by actor and advocate Michael J. Fox.


The entire world knows Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, the teenage sidekick of Doc Brown in Back to the Future ; as Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties ; as Mike Flaherty in Spin City ; and through numerous other movie roles and guest appearances on shows such as The Good Wife and Curb Your Enthusiasm . Diagnosed at age 29, Michael is equally engaged in Parkinson's advocacy work, raising global awareness of the disease and helping find a cure through The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, the world's leading non-profit funder of PD science. His two previous bestselling memoirs, Lucky Man and Always Looking Up , dealt with how he came to terms with the illness, all the while exhibiting his iconic optimism. His new memoir reassesses this outlook, as events in the past decade presented additional challenges.


In No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality, Michael shares personal stories and observations about illness and health, aging, the strength of family and friends, and how our perceptions about time affect the way we approach mortality. Thoughtful and moving, but with Fox's trademark sense of humor, his book provides a vehicle for reflection about our lives, our loves, and our losses.


Running through the narrative is the drama of the medical madness Fox recently experienced, that included his daily negotiations with the Parkinson's disease he's had since 1991, and a spinal cord issue that necessitated immediate surgery. His challenge to learn how to walk again, only to suffer a devastating fall, nearly caused him to ditch his trademark optimism and "get out of the lemonade business altogether."


Does he make it all of the way back? Read the book.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction: Fall Guy (p. 1)
• 1 Family Man (p. 5)
• 2 Dog Years (p. 13)
• 3 Act Too (p. 21)
• 4 High Times (p. 35)
• 5 Double Bogey (p. 55)
• 6 Loco Motion (p. 61)
• 7 Unsafe at Any Speed (p. 73)
• 8 Exile on Pain Street (p. 79)
• 9 What to Expect from My Back in the Future (p. 87)
• 10 Showing Some Spine (p. 95)
• 11 Metaphysical Therapy (p. 103)
• 12 Walk This Way (p. 115)
• 13 A Crowded House (p. 127)
• 14 Breaking Dad (p. 135)
• 15 A Wing and a Proverb (p. 149)
• 16 Homeland Security (p. 161)
• 17 Head Games (p. 167)
• 18 Maryland, My Maryland (p. 175)
• 19 The Only Thing to Fear (p. 179)
• 20 Father Time (p. 189)
• 21 All Things Considered (p. 199)
• 22 Shake It Off (p. 213)
• 23 Midnight in the Garden (p. 223)
• Epilogue (p. 227)
• Acknowledgments (p. 233)
• About the Author (p. 239)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend creator Bloom offers burst-out-loud-laughing personal essays that explore feeling uncomfortably different from others and finally realizing that she's not (200,000-copy first printing). Back to the Future Fox focuses on issues of hope, fear, toughness, and being realistic as he explains his struggles with Parkinson's and spinal-cord surgery that led to his learning to walk again in No Time Like the Future (350,00-copy first printing). What long-running TV show, now moving from strictly syndication to streaming, is the subject of McNear's Answers in the Form of Questions (60,000-copy first printing)? From Maerz, founding editor of New York magazine's Vulture website, Alright, Alright, Alright shows how Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused proved to be an unexpected success and the making of stars like Matthew McConaughey, Parker Posey, and Ben Affleck (75,000-copy first printing). And New York Post theater columnist Riedel ranges from Jonathan Larsen's Rent to Disney's The Lion King as he portrays recent Midas-touched Broadway theater in Singular Sensation (100,000-copy first printing).

Kirkus Book Review

In his fourth book, Fox expresses gratitude for the past and looks to the future with a firm grasp on how to be "both a realist and an optimist." Though the actor, activist, and author has lived a blessed life, he has also faced plenty of adversity. In 1991, at 29, following early success with Family Ties, Teen Wolf, and the Back to the Future series, he was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson's disease, a devastating blow that would stop many people in their tracks. But Fox continued to work. After his diagnosis, he had roles in Spin City, Rescue Me, Boston Legal, and The Michael J. Fox Show, among other TV show and film appearances. In his latest book, the author, who has recently suffered from a spinal cord issue, is both optimistic and self-reflective: "Have I oversold optimism as a panacea, commodified hope? Have I been an honest broker with the Parkinson's community? The understanding I've reached with Parkinson's is sincere, but the expression of it risks being glib." Fox is refreshingly candid about his latest ailment, which has necessitated frequent use of a wheelchair. He gracefully takes readers on his journey from Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for the risky surgical procedure and then New York City for intense rehab, and he praises his compassionate doctors and their top-notch care. The tone of the memoir is not entirely somber; though Fox ponders death, he also shares memories of a safari in Tanzania and a trip to Mount Everest: "Flying over the Himalayas is like housesitting for God." Throughout, the author clearly expresses his love for his family: his wife of 30 years, Tracy Pollan Fox, their four children, and Gus, the family dog. A heartfelt, unselfish book about never giving up that should serve as good motivational material for readers. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.