review in a flash: always looking up, the adventures of an incurable optimist

Here's my quick review of Michael J. Fox's second book. (A second memoir? What do others think about the concept--pretentious or not? Why not wait or keep a running manuscript and save the paper of multiple books?) Michael J. Fox has had an impressive life, even before his Parkinson's diagnosis. He didn't go to college, and his family life wasn't exactly ideal, but he's turned out okay. The book is divided into sections on Family, Faith, Work, and Politics. Of course, the unspecified section on Parkinson's is interwoven throughout the book. Having had a grandparent with Parkinson's, his descriptions of his illness and his coping mechanisms were probably my favorite part. I also love when people love and appreciate their children, and Fox writes with great tenderness and openness about his four kids. As a writer, he is a tad self-indulgent and verbose; I just wish when non-writers write, that they would not try to sound like professional writers. However, all in all, it's a great (and quick) casual read.