No Time Like the Future

Although this is my review of Michaels 4th book I would encourage anyone to read all of his books in order. They are all well written and excellent books! I noticed in many reviews, of this his latest book, people were complaining he did not talk much about his Parkinson’s Disease, and therefore people with PD that read it could not relate to him and their own struggles. He talks extensively about his PD in the previous three books, and I don’t believe it was his intention to go over ground he has already covered with the focus of this book being on his more recent struggles with back surgery for a tumor that almost crippled him along a bad fall that seriously broke his arm and how all that made him more grateful and optimistic for the future and his life and family.There was also some criticism in other reviews that since he was a star he was conceited and that he had privilege and access to resources others do not. First of all you would not be reading his book at all if he wasn’t a star in the first place, do you expect him to give away all his money and star status since he now has PD so he can relate to people better? That does not even make sense. Michael did not come from wealth or stardom; he went to Hollywood as a 17-year-old high school dropout and found great success. (that is covered in his other books). Instead of holding that against him I celebrate it with him and am glad he was in a position once he was diagnosed with PD that he could lend his name and influence to fight PD by starting the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s research. He has probably raised more money, and certainly brought the most national attention to PD than any other person, and again if he wasn’t a successful star, he would not have been able to do that. My mother had PD and I worry about getting it myself. I am glad to have such a great advocate for PD patients as Michael is to be out there leading the charge to fight Parkinson’s disease and find a cure. Rather than finding Michael arrogant or conceded I find Michael to be very humble and he very much does relate with common people with PD on a regular basis. Read his other books, they go into all of that. Watch some YouTube videos of him meeting with common people with PD and helping them.In this book Michael does tell the story of one of the great heroes in his life; he is a regular young guy with a family diagnosed with PD that initially kept his diagnosis secret but found the courage to go public and get involved in Michael’s Foundation bringing awareness to young onset PD. He is one of my heroes too. I highly recommend this latest book by Michael J Fox and look forward to many more!

Enjoyed this book, funny yet informative. I have PD too, diagnosed 2 years ago but saw myself in parts of this book.

I grew up watching Michael J. Fox. I was hooked by Family Ties, and after Back to the Future, I was infatuated. I made it a mission to watch everything he did, even the films that weren't box office hits (The Hard Way and The Frighteners are two of my personal favorites). I collected MJF magazines or clipped out articles and pictures.When Fox went public with his Parkinson's diagnosis, he was starring in Spin City. I watched, as I'm sure many did, looking for evidence of his condition. He was skilled at masking it, and had even said to Barbara Walters in 1998: “I won’t see 50 with this. I will see 50, but I will not have this.” He's now 60. Parkinson's has remained, and has progressed to the point that he is taking a second retirement from acting.Fox has labelled No Time Like the Future as his "cranky" book. It's not the optimistic (and aptly titled) Always Looking Up or the surprisingly thankful Lucky Man. And Fox is a lucky man. He's enjoyed a decades-long career doing what he loves, winning awards and acclaim (yes, he has a Star on the Walk of Fame). He married the love of his life, and has four kids he adores, who he claims are smarter, funnier, better-looking, and taller than him (I'll grant him that last comparison). He beat an alcohol addiction that could have cost him his career and his family. He had successful brain surgery. He and his wife and twin girls almost returned home from Europe on a doomed Concorde jet, but flew home the day prior to the crash. His family was alone in New York on 9/11 (Fox was working on the West Coast), but they avoided the danger, and he made it home to them safely. He almost needed a finger amputated (but didn't). A benign tumor on his spine could've paralyzed him, or the surgery to remove it could have (they didn't). Yet it was a bone-breaking fall in his kitchen that literally and figuratively knocked him on his ass, making him question his trademark optimism.Fox doesn't hold anything back in his description of his surgeries and recoveries. Personal, irreverent, and at times shocking, his accounts are amazing in that he was quietly enduring them, without the world knowing the raw details. He shares the raw details in this book, but he also shares humorous and touching stories about his mother, his siblings, his wife, his kids, his dog (RIP, Gus!), and his work.His work has changed. No longer the young, active, spontaneous comic movie star, he had found the joy of appearance roles, mostly in television. Now that has changed as well, and writing is his work. And like with his acting, he's damn good at it. Especially with the challenge of his Parkinson's, which he reveals prevents him from typing, and makes his handwriting nearly illegible.Last year, Fox and his wife, Tracy Pollan, went to Madison Square Garden to catch a Rangers hockey game. The two were shown on the GardenVision, and under Fox’s image, the caption read “Michael J. Fox, Actor.” When the world fell in love with Fox, it was as a television and movie actor, But he’s much more than that.He’s a husband, a father, and a family man. He’s an author, an advocate, and an activist. He’s a sports fan, a musician, and a persistent optimist. And threading through all of that, he’s a guy with Parkinson’s Disease.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this true story from Michael J. Fox. Learning of his experiences through the ordeals his had along with Parkinson‘s and his recovery is humbling. Reading this account from him is also inspirational and has planted the idea to write my own story one of these days of my personal experience with a rare nerve condition. I also appreciate the knowledge given of Parkinson’s in this story. I look forward to possibly reading his other books. If you like Michael J. Fox as an actor or for any other reason, this book is a great read.

What a wonderful collection of hopes, misfortunes, and humorous bits of life and wisdom shared with the world! It must already be difficult managing to remain being an actor, let alone an actor still working with Parkinson's Disease. The hope that he gives me is overwhelming as I face my own cognitive decline and worries about the future and dementia. He has touched many hearts because he is real, approachable and down to earth! A wonderful read!