Mark Zupan

any athlete that pushes themselves to go further be faster get stronger do more do more do more is always interesting to me. doing all that as a quadriplegic, even more so.

so this was interesting. to learn a bit about quad injuries and life after that kind of catastrophic accident. plus a sport i'd never heard of (quad rugby).

it's also a story about friendship that i wish was explored more deeply. i guess what was hard for me in this book is reading about people who drink and party this much and trying to find common ground with them. they're not people i want to spend time with or usually relate to, but those stories make up so much of this book and who these people are. but these men try to be good guys, even if they don't always succeed or are not people i'd probably want to spend time with.

but the book is not badly written, and it's a story that gives more dimension to people in wheelchairs, and reminds the reader of their biases, which is a useful and important thing.

"I've realized that the ability to forget is sometimes much more useful than the ability to remember."… (más)

An excellent autobiography, and hard to read since it involves plenty of pain for the author--physical and emotional. He makes it clear what college freshmen men are really like (scary!). He became a quadraplegic at 18, and has become an even better athlete and good student as a result. The book details his long struggle, with no romanticizing. The language is quite harsh, but realistic. A couple of incidents are definitely NOT for children and he writes about all the realities of recovering from the accident and living as a handicapped person. He also mkaes it clear that the world of Paralympics is every bit as competitive and exciting as any other sport. It's a great story of overcoming huge obstacles, and tells exactly why to avoid the pitfalls of alcohol without ever stating a warning.… (más)