While reading this amazing account of a life lived well with epilepsy, I kept having to remind myself that all the author went through happened not in some distant barbaric past---the author is just a little older than me. His experiences, especially those while at college, are deeply troubling to read about. He was over and over misdiagnosed, poorly medicated to the point of near death, forced to fight to stay in a college that wanted him out basically simply because he was an epileptic, accused of faking his seizures, assaulted, kept from jobs once his health status was revealed----it is a sad testament to our country's treatment of those with disabilities to read all Eichenwald had to go through.
However, this is truly a story of triumph more than of defeat. Eichenwald fought very hard to be treated fairly, to stay in college, to get jobs (the story of how he was treated by Ralph Nader's office is chilling), to get effective medical treatment, to frankly just stay alive. And he did, more than that---he has had a long career as a very well regarded reporter, and most importantly to him, he has a family he puts above all else.
Eichenwald's writing is what sets this memoir above most. He writes about his life making use of all the skills of a reporter, but also vividly is able to describe the feelings and long term emotional scars and PSTD caused by so many years of struggle. He has a gift of forgiveness beyond what many of us would have, but he doesn't forget what was done to him (although his memory has been affected over the years, he explains in a forward all he has done to accurately recall and recreate his life.
I highly recommend this memoir---to anyone living with epilepsy or other life-altering disabilities, and to all who would be inspired by this remarkable life story.
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