The Cover of Fox's 'Always Looking Up'
I bought a copy of Michael J. Fox’s new book, Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist, while at an airport about a month ago and I have just finished reading it. First off, it is definitely not the type of book I would usually read. Aside from the Feynman books I can’t even remember the last time I read anything that approached a memoir, which is what this book is. Interestingly enough, that is precisely the reason I bought it; I figured it was time I read something besides epic fantasy and technical literature.
At the end of the prologue Fox accurately describes the content and organization his book:
What follows is a memoir of this last decade. But unlike Lucky Man, it is thematic rather than chronological. Work, Politics, Faith, and Family. These are the struts of my existence. These are the critical supports of my life.
Fox relates countless anecdotes about himself, his family, and his friends, all of which are told with his unique sense of humor. As I read I found myself laughing out loud as he related things like his cross country car-trek, where his father apparently had a resolute ‘no are-we-there-yet’ policy. In addition to the stories he also devotes a decent number of pages to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which spearheads the effort to find a cure for Parkinson’s Disease.
Overall I am pretty happy that I read this book. Always Looking Up didn’t let me escape to an alternate reality like fantasy does, and it didn’t really educate me in any substantive way, but what it did do was to take me on the awe-inspiring roller-coaster ride that has been Michael J. Fox’s life for the past decade. It was wonderful to see how Fox’s steadfast optimism and drive could turn something so debilitating as Parkinson’s Disease into a positive influence.