Thursday 22 March 2012

Lucky Man (Michael J. Fox)

Title: Lucky Man: A Memoir
Author: Michael J. Fox
Publication Date: 2003
Publisher: Hyperion
Pages: 272
Source: Borrowed from a family member
Genre: Autobiography / Memoir
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I grew up watching Michael J. Fox on Family Ties re-runs (I was still in diapers when the first season aired ;) ) and Back to the Future was a major part of my childhood history. So of course I was super dooper excited to read the first memoir written by Mr Fox titled Lucky Man. This memoir starts off with a very heavy topic - being diagnosed with Parkinson disease - and then shifts focus to his early life growing up in Canada and moves on to his acting career while swinging back into the major life changes and upheavals that his diagnosis causes.

Michael J. Fox is an incredible story teller. His sharp wit and down-to-earth personality really shines in this book and it was seriously a real pleasure to read. I found the insights into the movie and tv industry incredibly fascinating and he was brutally honest about so many aspects of his life including his relationship with his father and issues with alcohol. I had no idea it took him around 7 years before he decided to go public with his diagnosis and even then it was a hard choice to make.

Regardless whether you grew up worshipping the DeLorean and knowing you were going to own a hoverboard one day (seriously - hurry up already!) or you only caught a couple of episodes of Spin City and found him a bit of a laugh I highly recommend you give this memoir a go as it's one of the best I have read.

This is only his first book and I loved his writing style so much I'm already sourcing Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future: Twists and Turns and Lessons Learned. Plus he gets my award for longest titles.

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