When I found Against Medical Advice by James Patterson and Hal Friedman while browsing the nonfiction collection, I decided to read it simply because a certain friend of mine does not appreciate James Patterson, a very popular fiction writer. Never having read a Patterson book, I thought it would be fun to try one. This story, which he co-wrote with Hal Friedman, is his first nonfiction book.
Cory Friedman woke up one morning when he was almost five years old with an uncontrollable urge to shake his head. His irrepressible movements and tics and unmanageable utterances began to take over his life. This book is the story of thirteen years of his life, living with Tourette’s Syndrome, a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics. His parents take him to many specialists and try different treatments. At some points Cory is taking so much medication, it is hard to distinguish whether his symptoms are caused by Tourette’s or by the side effects of the medicine.
The story is told in Cory’s voice. It is easy to read and very interesting. I was hoping for more information about the disorder, but this was just a surface tale of his day-to-day life of living with a very misunderstood illness. People were rude to him; he didn’t fit in at school; he felt like a failure most of the time. Throughout his life, his parents were supportive of him and took extreme measures to help him. At one point, Cory discovered that alcohol was the only thing that gave him relief from his tortuous and exhausting tics. His mom and dad intervened and sent him to a wilderness camp so he would escape all temptation and be forced to struggle through withdrawal.
Patterson’s co-author, Hal Friedman, is Cory’s father. He had to live through his son’s nightmarish teenage years, and has earned my respect.
The book ends on a good and surprising note, which is hard to believe, but full of hope. (Whether I’m going to read more by James Patterson – we’ll see.)
JJ
James Patterson is a brilliant author on par with Shakespeare, Dickens, Joyce and Sparks. I cherish every one of his books and look forward to the day when our schools wake up and start including his works as part of the curriculum.
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