Still Me

Andrea Higbie

Reeve...comes across as a decent human being with a stunning lack of ego....it has happened that through his honesty, dignity and clarity of purpose, Reeve has created an involving book and a meaningful life. -- New York Times Book Review

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Its poignant jacket depicting Reeve in his wheelchair, back to the camera, facing a hillside cast in dreamy greens and purples will by itself propel this book into readers' hands. The words behind the picture are equally potent, however. Reeve has produced a memoir that's outspoken, wise and tremendously moving. The contours of Reeve's career are well known: the meteoric rise in the late 1970s from obscurity to superstardom as Superman; years of celebrity followed by lesser roles and fame; the riding accident that left Reeve a quadriplegic; the comeback through directing HBO's Into the Gloaming; the work on behalf of the disabled and spinal cord research. Reeve covers it all, shuttling back and forth in time, giving just enough detail about his earlier years including a frank assessment of his parents and upbringing and lightly enjoyable anecdotes of his relationships with Robin Williams, Katharine Hepburn and other luminaries to background the book's main act: the accident and its aftermath. Writing in a clean, even matter-of-fact style that renders his words all the more devastating for their lack of bathos, Reeve reveals the intimacies of his plight: the confusion and terror as he learned of his situation; a disorienting out-of-body experience in an operating room; the humiliating adjustment to reliance upon others in order to eat, breathe, live; the shift of the center of gravity of his being from self-service to the serving of others. No doubt, Reeve is "still me"but readers of his beautifully composed book will see that he is now also morethat through nearly unimaginable suffering and effort, he has transformed a charmed life into one blessed to be a true profile in courage.

Library Journal

The courageous actor Christopher Reeve survived a broken neck in a tragic fall from a horse in 1995. Since then his appearances on behalf of the disabled, TV interviews, and this bestselling book have captivated larger audiences than his Superman movies. He has made an incredible journey from active sportsman and star to observer and now back to a creative role. We learn about the accident, his subsequent slow recovery, his earlier relationships with parents, devoted wife and children, and, briefly, his film and stage career. Lately, he made a successful debut as a film director. He may act again, in his wheelchair. His reading of this text is clear and moving, with minor breathing difficulties. This unique story, although regrettably short, is a winner. Warmly recommended for general audiences.--Gordon Blackwell, Eastchester, NY

People

A bold memoir that unflinchingly shares the Superman star's life before and after a riding accident left him paralyzed--but not defeated.