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Nothing Is Impossible: Reflections on a New Life [Secure eReader (recommended)/Mobipocket/Microsoft Reader/Adobe]
eBook by Christopher Reeve & Matthew Reeve
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5% |
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5% |
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$7.12 |
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eBook Category: People/Self Improvement
eBook Description:  So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable. If we can conquer outer space, we can conquer inner space, too. Christopher Reeve has mastered the art of turning the impossible into the inevitable. In Nothing Is Impossible, the author of the bestselling autobiography Still Me shows that we are all capable of overcoming seemingly insurmountable hardships. He interweaves anecdotes from his own life with excerpts from speeches and interviews he's given and with evocative photos taken by his son Matthew. Reeve teaches us that for able-bodied people, paralysis is a choice--a choice to live with self-doubt and a fear of taking risks--and that it is not an acceptable one. Reeve knows from experience that the work of conquering inner space is hard and that it requires some suffering--after all, nothing worth having is easy to get. He asks challenging questions about why it seems so difficult--if not impossible--for us to work together as a society. He steers the reader gently, offering his reflections and guidance but not the pat answers that often characterize inspirational works. Published on the eve of both his fiftieth birthday and the seventh anniversary of his spinal cord injury, Christopher Reeve's Nothing Is Impossible reminds us that life is not to be taken for granted but to be lived fully with zeal, curiosity, and gratitude. That is a powerful message in itself, but it is the messenger who gives it its full resonance.
eBook Publisher: Random House, Inc., Published: 2002
Fictionwise Release Date: October 2002
Available eBook Formats [Secure eReader (recommended)/Mobipocket/Microsoft Reader/Adobe - What's this?]: SECURE MOBIPOCKET FORMAT [728 KB], SECURE MICROSOFT READER FORMAT [376 KB] - Requires Microsoft Reader 2.1.1 for PCs, or Microsoft Reader 2.2.2 on Pocket PC 2002 handheld devices. Some older Pocket PCs can be upgraded. Learn More., SECURE EREADER (RECOMMENDED) FORMAT [629 KB], SECURE ADOBE FORMAT [1.3 MB]
Words: 100000
Reading time: 285-400 min.
Secure Adobe: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED
Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED
Microsoft Reader ISBN, Adobe Acrobat Reader ISBN, MobiPocket Reader ISBN, eReader (recommended) ISBN: 9781588361097
 
"A remarkable book . . . Reeve's autobiography is distinguished not only by the dignified candor with which he describes his utterly changed world but also by his emotional directness. . . . [Reeve] communicates so well that it's easy to forget that every word of Still Me has been wrested from a body in revolt against a mind clarified by adversity."--
-Entertainment Weekly
"A decent human being with a stunning lack of ego . . . Through his honesty, dignity and clarity of purpose, Reeve has created an involving book and a meaningful life."--
-The New York Times Book Review "[Still Me] redefines the idea of hero. . . . In this detailed and well-written autobiography, Reeve proves that, in many ways, he has transcended previous accomplishments through his courage and character."--
-The Boston Globe "A story of enormous depth: honest, intelligent and compelling. I have rarely read anything as moving and would offer one small piece of advice should you be tempted--read it in a room on your own so you won't feel ashamed of weeping, and keep a box of tissues and a stiff drink within reach at all times."--
-Sunday Times (London) "A memoir that's outspoken, wise, and tremendously moving . . . No doubt, Reeve is 'still me'--but readers of his beautifully composed book will see that he is now also more--that through nearly unimaginable suffering and effort, he has transformed a charmed life into one blessed to be a true profile in courage."--
-Publishers Weekly
ter know what you want because you might get it and you've got to accept it. Whether you succeed or whether you encounter adversity you always have to believe in your worth as a person. That's what counts.
-Remarks at a success seminar in Portland, Oregon, February 6, 2001
When I made those comments in 2001, it was no longer difficult for me to say to anyone that you have to believe in your worth as a person. But in the intensive care unit at the University of Virginia on June 1, 1995, I had no such belief. Far from it. On that day I regained consciousness to find myself lying in traction, a heavy metal ball suspended behind my head attached to a metal frame secured by screws in each temple. I learned that as the result of a fall during an equestrian competition I had broken my neck just centimeters below the brain stem, and that my chances of surviving the surgery to reattach my head to my spinal column were 50/50 at best. Even if the operation was successful, I would still remain paralyzed from the shoulders down and unable to breathe on my own. I heard the whooshing sound of a ventilator as it pumped oxygen into my lungs through a long tube inserted into a hole in my neck. I've lived with that sound for many years. The moment I understood the gravity of my situation my immediate reaction was that such a life was unacceptable, even though I knew absolutely nothing about living as a vent-dependent quadriplegic. I realized that there was no cure for spinal cord injuries like mine and that I would forever be dependent on others for the basic necessities of daily existence. My role as a husband and the father of three children would be severely compromised, because paralysis had suddenly transformed me into a forty-two-year-old infant. I thought it would be selfish and unfair to remain alive. I remember going over my life, taking an inventory of all the cuts, bruises, broken bones, and illnesses I had weathered, ranging from mononucleosis to malaria and mastocytosis (a rare disease that destroys red blood cells as they emerge from the bone marrow). At age sixteen, I developed alopecia areata, a condition that causes patches of baldness in an otherwise healthy head of hair. Fortunately I was able to comb over the spots, and there were long periods of remission when the baldness disappeared. I was a survivor; I always had been. A part of me insisted that this situation shouldn't be any different; another part acknowledged that this time I had gone over the edge and was free-falling into the unknown. The month I spent in the intensive care unit was an emotional roller-coaster ride created by my own inner turmoil and contradictions coming from those involved in my case. The critical care was nothing short of miraculous. Dr. John Jane-arguably one of the best neurosurgeons in the world-achieved the nearly impossible feat of reattaching the base of my skull to my spinal column with wire, titanium, and bone grafted from my hip. Under his watchful eye, a team of internists and pulmonologists cured me of ulcers and pneumonia. By the second week I was able to turn my head about half an inch from side to side, and I could raise my shoulders slightly. Dr. Jane was confident that before too long I would be able to move my deltoids, which might lead to the functional recovery of my right arm. Perhaps I could learn to feed myself, and someday be able to drive a specially adapted car. My spirits rose. In the third week of June I was visited by Dr. Marcalee Sipski, director of the Spinal Cord Injury Unit at the Kessler Rehabilitation Institute in West Orange,...
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