There are many words to describe Michael J. Fox: Actor. Husband.
Father. Activist. But readers of
Always Looking Up will
soon add another to the list: Optimist. Michael writes about the
hard-won perspective that helped him see challenges as
opportunities. Instead of building walls around himself, he
developed a personal policy of engagement and discovery: an
emotional, psychological, intellectual, and spiritual outlook that
has served him throughout his struggle with Parkinson''s disease.
Michael''s exit from a very demanding, very public arena offered
him the time-and the inspiration-to open up new doors leading to
unexpected places. One door even led him to the center of his own
family, the greatest destination of all.
The last ten years, which is really the stuff of
this book, began with such a loss: my retirement from Spin City. I
found myself struggling with a strange new dynamic: the shifting of
public and private personas. I had been Mike the actor, then Mike
the actor with PD. Now was I just Mike with PD Parkinson''s had
consumed my career and, in a sense, had become my career. But where
did all of this leave Me? I had to build a new life when I was
already pretty happy with the old one..
Always Looking Up is a memoir of this last decade, told
through the critical themes of Michael''s life: work, politics,
faith, and family. The book is a journey of self-discovery and
reinvention, and a testament to the consolations that protect him
from the ravages of Parkinson''s.
With the humor and wit that captivated fans of his first book,
Lucky Man, Michael describes how he became a happier, more
satisfied person by recognizing the gifts of everyday life.
