Christopher Reeve refused to resign himself to the life of a quadriplegic, and actively campaigned to raise the profile of spinal-cord injury victims and research. It was this extraordinary courage and determination that made him internationally admired.
It is best to come to a book with as few preconceptions as possible. All too often one can judge a book by its cover, and the cover of Still Me is somewhat off-putting, but give it a chance. It is impossible not to feel moved by the plight of Christopher Reeve, aka Superman, and his family, following his tragic riding accident. His active, athletic life was transfigured when he became a quadriplegic, an independent man who became utterly dependent on others. The accident, which made headline news, changed the author's life in more ways than one, and it is worth reading about. Reeve is surprisingly honest and self-aware - this is inspirational, humbling stuff. (Kirkus UK)
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About Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve established a reputation as one of America's leading actors, and after being paralysed in an equation in an equestrian competition in 1995, he put a human face on spinal cord injury. Reeve was chairman of the board of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation (CRPF) and vice chairman of the National Organisation on Disability and lobbied vigorously for healthcare reform and funding of research. Nothing is Impossible, his follow-up to Still Me, was published in Century in 2002. He died in 2004.