Synopses & Reviews
Illness came calling when Richard M. Cohen was twenty-five years old. He was a young television news producer with expectations of a limitless future, and his foreboding that his health was not quite right turned into the harsh reality that something was very wrong when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. For thirty years Cohen has done battle with MS, only to be ambushed by two bouts of colon cancer at the end of the millennium. And yet, he has writ-ten a hopeful book about celebrating life and coping with chronic illness.
"Welcome to my world," writes Cohen, "where I carry around dreams, a few diseases, and the determination to live life my way. This book is my daily conversation with myself, a chronicle of the struggles in that exotic place just north of the neck. At the moment, my attitude checks out well. I do believe I'm winning."
Autobiographical at its roots, reportorial, and expansive, Blindsided explores the effects of illness on raising three children and on his relationship with his wife, Meredith Vieira (host of ABC's The View and the syndicated Who Wants To Be A Millionaire). Cohen tackles the nature of denial and resilience, the ins and outs of the struggle for emotional health, and the redemptive effects of a loving family. And while he may not have chosen to live with illness, illness did choose him. Written with grace, humor, and lyrical prose, Blindsided presents a life brimming over with accomplishment and joy in adversity.
Review
"Blindsided is beautifully written and utterly honest. May we all be so brave and caring in our own families."
Tom Brokaw
Review
"I cannot remember ever being more profoundly moved by any book I have ever read....Dont miss this book."
Beverly Sills
Review
"[Blindsided] paints an incredibly sharp picture of what it is like to live passionately with joy, love, and anger."
Dr. Harold Varmus, President, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Former Director, National Institutes of Health
Review
"With aplomb and high character [Cohen] lays out
lessons in unflappable prose....A sharp and affecting piece of perspective-setting."
Kirkus Reviews
Review
"A powerful and agonizingly frank description of a life with which many chronically ill people and their families will identify."
Library Journal (Starred Review)
Synopsis
A hopeful look at coping with the ravages of serious chronic illness by an accomplished journalist, a contributing columnist for the New York Times, and former senior producer of the CBS Evening News
Richard Cohen, a veteran journalist, has lived with multiple sclerosis for 30 years. Diagnosed with colon cancer twice in recent years, Cohen chronicles and celebrates a life brimming over with accomplishment and adversity, while struggling for emotional health.
Autobiographical at its roots, reportorial, and expansive, Blindsided explores the effects of illness on raising three children and his relationship with wife Meredith Vieira (host of ABC's The View). He tackles the nature of denial and resilience and the redemptive effects of a loving family, and does so with grace, humor, and lyrical prose.
About the Author
Richard M. Cohen is a former senior producer for CBS News and CNN, a three-time Emmy Award winner, and the recipient of numerous honors in journalism. He is a contributor to the "Health and Fitness" section of the New York Times and lives with his family outside New York City.