Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful Gift for Stroke Victims and Those Who Love Them!
Review: Caution: This book contains occasional coarse language, employed for emphasis, that seems justified in how it is applied.Mr. Kirk Douglas is eloquent, moving, and convincing in this book as he describes how he came to terms with suffering a stroke. The essence of the message is that stroke victims should focus on "helping others" to help themselves. The book abounds in detailed examples of how to do this for stroke victims. The book's message is so fine, delicate, and well-balanced that I suggest that you learn about it from Mr. Douglas rather than from a review. His account is very candid and powerful. He cites his own vivid and depressing thoughts before he began to recover, and shares many inspiring lessons from others. You will learn about his fears about losing his vocation ("What good is an actor who can't talk?"), experiences with depression (thinking about suicide as described on the dust cover), and the concerns he had about embarrassment (a billion people were expected to watch him talk). I was most impressed by the examples of what others wrote, said, and did that helped him gain new purpose. The book is also filled with nostalgic references to his friends and family, almost all of whom are represented in interesting photographs reproduced in the book. I was especially touched to read what his "Ma" told him as she lay dying, "Don't be afraid, it happens to everyone." He drew much strength from remembering that thought. As Mr. Douglas says in this book, "Strive to be a Little Hero."
Rating:
Summary: This is an Immensely Inspirational Book!
Review: I have much more admiration for Kirk Douglas now than I had previously. He is a courageous man who has weathered the challenges of having a major stroke. I like his stories and his honesty about his condition. He even adds humor from time to time.
I will recommend this book to any friends or relatives afflicted by a stroke. My grandmother had a stroke. Now, thanks to Kirk, I know more about what she might have had to endure.
Rating:
Summary: INCREDIBLE STORY, INCREDIBLE MAN!
Review: Kirk Douglas began his career back in the early 1940's and has been with us ever since. He is truly a man of his time, and his accomplishments in the field of acting are outstanding. Now at 84, he has given us a book telling not of his colourful acting career, but his battle with life following a stroke several years ago. The book takes us through his depression, his thoughts of suicide and his recovery. Through it all, and in spire of his personal pain, the humourous side of Douglas always seems to emerge even at times when he is at his lowest. The book is highly inspirational for anyone who has had to overcome serious health issues. Fans of Douglas who saw him as a great man on screen will see an even greater man in his personal life. This book is highly recommended reading material. Douglas can teach us a valuable lesson about courage, determination, family support and love - they can and do accomplish miracles.
Rating:
Summary: Profoundly Simple and Moving
Review: Kirk Douglas chronicles his own struggle to overcome the personal and professional demons tied to the aftermath of a devastating stroke in MY STROKE OF LUCK. The stories are full of passion, courage, and spontaneity. The book is an incredibly swift read, as he concentrates solely on the vignettes associated to the events instead of dealing (as some books of this variety do) with the mountains and mountains of ancilliary details that, while may be eye-opening, can be as exhaustive to the reader as they are to the stroke survivor. In my family, a relation on my wife's side endured a stroke, and we watched how the debilitating condition affected her ability to communicate, to express, and to feel. Of course, we always knew of her frustration, but we couldn't step into her shoes and begin to comprehend just how infuriating her condition could be. Mr. Douglas's book brings much of this to light, in bravely discussing openly some of his own feelings of inadequacy and anger, but, ultimately, he tells the reader how he managed to achieve a type of peace, humor, and acceptance of one of the cruelest tricks life could play on any of us. While some of the prose is light, this is a triumph best told simply, allowing the reader to almost walk hand-in-hand with one of the world's greatest actors and hear how even the littlest experiences have all of a sudden become incredible physical and emotional obstacles.
Rating:
Summary: A truly inspiring book
Review: Mr. Douglas chronicles his debilitating stroke, and how it changed his life. He pays tribute to those who helped him, and also tells us of the things he learned along the way. A must-read book, which shows the REAL Kirk Douglas--an exceptionally brave man, and a wonderful human being.
Rating:
Summary: A truly inspiring book
Review: Mr. Douglas chronicles his debilitating stroke, and how it changed his life. He pays tribute to those who helped him, and also tells us of the things he learned along the way. A must-read book, which shows the REAL Kirk Douglas--an exceptionally brave man, and a wonderful human being.
Rating: 
Summary: MAN WITH A GREAT EGO
Review: MY STROKE OF LUCK By Kirk Douglas This is a case where a huge ego with character comes in handy. It let him help others and it helped him become one of the best actors in his time. Additionally, he wrote this book about a stroke he had in his 80s-and this is one of several books he wrote. I hope my ego is large enough to keep me going for that long. It's not big enough to even to start what he has done is one lifetime. So he couldn't talk. I know just how he felt. I couldn't either. A brain attack is a strange experience, especially if you have aphasia. You are trying to talk to the doctor and he hears nothing but strange sounds. At least Kirk Douglas could walk which was wonderful at his age and after what he had already put his body through. They have medicine for depression which some times does not help as Kirk found out. Thank God for an ego and a wonderful sense of humor, which he had to have. He has a very good memory and the things he did, and is still doing for his friends and strangers will always be remembered by the world. I got a good laugh out of his thoughts of death where he appeared in front of an old man and asked him if he was in heaven. The old man roared, "THAT'S WHERE YOU CAME FROM, don't you like what I gave you on earth, this is a RECYCLING PLANT, where humans are made of dust and in the end return to dust!" For some of us it is our heaven, the Earth! That why we are in no hurry to leave. It's wonderful that a man of Kirks age can write a book while he is recovering from a stroke. And, not just a book, but also an excellent book, which will help anyone with any kind of disability problem who reads it. For others it's just an excellent book. Roger L. Lee
Rating:
Summary: MAN WITH A GREAT EGO
Review: MY STROKE OF LUCK By Kirk Douglas This is a case where a huge ego with character comes in handy. It let him help others and it helped him become one of the best actors in his time. Additionally, he wrote this book about a stroke he had in his 80s-and this is one of several books he wrote. I hope my ego is large enough to keep me going for that long. It's not big enough to even to start what he has done is one lifetime. So he couldn't talk. I know just how he felt. I couldn't either. A brain attack is a strange experience, especially if you have aphasia. You are trying to talk to the doctor and he hears nothing but strange sounds. At least Kirk Douglas could walk which was wonderful at his age and after what he had already put his body through. They have medicine for depression which some times does not help as Kirk found out. Thank God for an ego and a wonderful sense of humor, which he had to have. He has a very good memory and the things he did, and is still doing for his friends and strangers will always be remembered by the world. I got a good laugh out of his thoughts of death where he appeared in front of an old man and asked him if he was in heaven. The old man roared, "THAT'S WHERE YOU CAME FROM, don't you like what I gave you on earth, this is a RECYCLING PLANT, where humans are made of dust and in the end return to dust!" For some of us it is our heaven, the Earth! That why we are in no hurry to leave. It's wonderful that a man of Kirks age can write a book while he is recovering from a stroke. And, not just a book, but also an excellent book, which will help anyone with any kind of disability problem who reads it. For others it's just an excellent book. Roger L. Lee
Rating:
Summary: Inspirational memoir
Review: Read MY STROKE OF LUCK by Kirk Douglas, his inspirational
memoir depicting the past few years of his life . . . they have not been healthy ones for the famed actor, in that he first
was in a helicopter crash and then suffered a stroke. But he has managed to survive both, even managing to
resume his acting career . . . you'll be moved by both his
upbeat attitude and sense of humor as he faced many life
events that have unfortunately gotten the best of many
others . . . I don't know if I would be able to maintain Douglas' grace, but I would make every attempt to do so. This book is a "must" for anybody who has suffered a
stroke or knows anybody who has . . . in addition, movie
fans will like it for the many reminisces sprinkled throughout. There were many memorable passages; among them:
What a hard life she [my mother] endured. I kept studying
her face. My mother's eyes opened and she stared at my face,
filled with anxiety. She smiled softly and squeezed my hand
gently. Her eyes, almost black on her white face, seemed to be
looking through me. She whispered, "Don't be afraid, it happens
to everyone." She took a deep breath and exhaled. The air came
out of her mouth like a slowly deflating balloon. She stopped
breathing. The world is filled with people who have suffered from one misfortune or another. The only thing that sets one apart from the rest is the desire and the attempt to help others. People who reach out beyond their pain, out into the world in a trusting way-they are the ones who make a difference. Nietzsche said, "He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how." Why? Because deep down we know that what matters in this life
is more than winning for ourselves. What matters in this life
is helping others win, even if it means slowing down and changing our course. We all want happiness. Life teaches us that we achieve happiness when we seek the happiness and well-being of others.
Rating:
Summary: A clarion call of hope for the stroke survivor
Review: This majestic little book can be read in one sitting. In it, Douglas exemplifies the courage he so often depicted in characters on screen.
He and I are both survivors of this most horrible of maladies. Douglas, who was eighty years YOUNG when he sustained his stroke, has as his principal residual a severe case of aphasia, He quite properly asks, "how is an actor who cannot speak supposed to work? Wait for the return of silent films?" The severe depression he suffered in the aftermath of his stroke is discussed with remarkable candor. I picked up this book when I was in the midst of a deep depression of some month's standing. After reading it, I find myself able to approach life with redoubled vigor, which is the never ending challenge of the stroke survivor. Douglas posits that life takes on meaning only in the helping of others. His travails have placed him in touch with the Judaism of his youth. He had his second bar mitzvah at age eighty-three, three years after his stroke. In reading the Torah before his family and friends assembled in the synagogue, Douglas,aphasia sufferer, showed all that here is truly a man with the right stuff. Buy this book. You will not be disappointed.
| 
