Synopses & Reviews
Like the day Elvis died or O.J. was acquitted, the Tuesday you wake up paralyzed is not a day you soon forget. For writer Allen Rucker-- baby boomer, husband, father of two, aging Hollywood also-ran-- life started over that Tuesday when, at the age of fifty-one, he was struck by a rare disorder-- transverse myelitis-- that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Why him? Was he being punished? Was it his stressful life? His frustrating career? Telling too many Christopher Reeve jokes? Dazed and paralyzed, he was forced to reevaluate everything, from the simplest bodily functions to the mysteries of the universe.
In a style that is at once funny and moving, The Best Seat in the House offers an unpretentious and unapologetic account of learning to live with paralysis. Without trivializing his situation, and without sermons or cliche s, Rucker invites all readers, whether disabled or not, to identify with him for better or for worse. This remarkably comic and heartfelt book speaks to the fragility of life and to the resilience and adaptability of a single, ordinary human being. Lucky for us, this human being has a sense of humor.
At first, it may not look like the best seat in the house, but read on. You might be surprised.
Review
“Very moving, not scary. [Rucker] is a talented man.” David Chase, writer of "The Sopranos"
Review
“Much funnier and more uplifting than it might initially seem.” Defamer.com
Review
“Both funny and moving...an unpretentious an unapologetic account of learning to live with paralysis.” Welland Tribune (Ontario)
Review
“… [Rucker] examines his situation with humor and honesty.” PN: Paraplegia News
Review
“Allen Rucker describes his new life with honesty, accessibility, and impudence...very funny.” National Public Radio
Review
“Ruckers established penchant for jaded humor, along with his willingness to indulge the readers curiosity, makes The Best Seat in the House...one of the most engaging disability memoirs to date....should be required reading for the disabled and able-bodied alike.” New Mobility
Review
“hardly sentimental...[a] savvy contribution...ahead of the curve.” New York Times
Review
“This valuable book is full of surprises....Frankly written, the human struggle is most touching.” Sante Fe New Mexican
Synopsis
One Tuesday afternoon Allen Rucker, Hollywood comedy writer and family man, wakes from a nap to find himself paralyzed from the waist down. Shocking? Yes. Unfair? Absolutely. Reality? Inescapably. Rucker is shaken up and angry, but soon realizes he's stuck in a wheelchair forever. He begins to reevaluate everything in his life, from the simplest bodily functions to the mysteries of the universe. Luckily, he's invited us along on the bumpy, poignant, and often hilarious road to recovery that leads him to completely redefine his life.
The Best Seat in the House is Rucker's unpretentious, unapologetic, refreshingly comic, and powerfully heartfelt paean to life and its fragility, and to the resilience and adaptability of a single, normal, very funny human being.
About the Author
An award-winning writer for television, author of nine books of nonfiction and humor, and columnist for Ability Magazine, Allen Rucker has written three books on the HBO series The Sopranos, including the #1 New York Times bestseller, The Sopranos Family Cookbook. He lives in Los Angeles.