Rating: 
Summary: Pooling Love
Review: "Rescuing Jeffrey" is a poignant real-life story about the human condition and the fighting spirit to live. It is a father-son story set against the backdrop of tragedy: on July 4, 1998, a 17 year-old boy dives into the shallow end of a pool, severely injures himself, is saved by his father, and then is taken to a hospital. That is when and where this extraordinary memoir by Richard Galli begins. Depressing? Yes, at times. But "Rescuing Jeffrey" is not prelude to Prozac. It is, rather, a sober and realistic account of how a family - father, mother, son, and daughter - deals with an unimaginable affliction . . . the specter of a son fighting for life when the very meaning of his life is forever transformed. Throughout, there is no romantic false hope or exaggerated sentimentality. There is only love, but a love acutely aware of the cruelties of fate and the brutal demands of reality. Reminiscent of the style and mindset of Albert Camus, Richard Galli has written a powerful and pondering account of eleven days that began with catastrophe and evolved into something remarkably unexpected. It is a story of how a father and son, a husband and wife, a community of friends, doctors, and rabbis all came together to confront the terror of tragedy. Galli's memoir is, without doubt, an affirmation of hope in the face of hopeless odds. "Rescuing Jeffrey" will not leave you depressed. No. It will leave you thinking about life and love and just how impossible is the former without the latter.
Rating: 
Summary: An array of emotions...
Review: A year after I sustained a spinal cord injury myself, I read Richard and Jeffrey Galli's story. I could relate to many of Richard's thoughts. He questioned Jeffrey's quality of life and wasn't sure if he wanted his son to live helplessly. I can truly say I hated some of Galli's opinions and statements... but the more I thought about it, the more they made sense. Galli speaks the truth; the brutal truth. He doesn't butter it up, but tells it how it is. At times I would get so discouraged that I made myself put the book down. I couldn't stay away long though. Galli frustrated me, brought me to tears, made me smile, and made me think. A good read for anyone who is in a similar position or knows someone who is. I admire Jeffrey's courage.
Rating:
Summary: Honest and very moving
Review: After I finished reading this book, I thought about it for days afterward. Mr. Galli teaches us some essential hard truths about what it means to lead a life worth living. I think this book should be required reading for physicians in training and for all those in the health care industry who face ethical dilemmas such as the one that faced the Galli family. I also applaud Mr. Galli for speaking frankly and honestly about his true emotions. I disagree with the reader who says Mr. Galli "needs saving"--what sort of cruel comment is that to make to a man who simply has the courage to tell us exactly how he felt and thought during the hardest days of his life? Bookstores are full of sickeningly sweet stories of those who have overcome their disabilities. Rescuing Jeffrey tells it like it is. This memoir is thoroughly gripping. I will recommend it to all my friends.
Rating: 
Summary: Shame on Richard Galli!
Review: For Richard Galli to think of killing his son because he became paralyzed is bad enough, but to write a book about it too is over the top! Who does he think he is to make the decision that, because his son's body is no longer perfect, he shouldn't be allowed to live? Are disabled people less than human? Unable to enjoy life? This book is revolting.
Rating:
Summary: I'm glad he's not my father.
Review: I agree with the "Rescuing Richard" review. I picked up this book hoping to be inspired by it; instead, I was disgusted by the author's audacity in his refusal to allow his son, a few months shy of 18, to make his own decision regarding life support. The author states that the boy's pediatrician was horrified to hear that the parents were considering removing life support. "You can't do that", the pediatrician says. "Your son has a viable brain." Exactly. We're not talking about a comatose or brain dead victim. Legally the author could remove life support. Ethically? The decision was clearly based on the author's opinion that his son's life was now not worth living. How tragic it would have been had he followed through with this. The arrogance of his point of view was appalling. The phrasing he chose, speaking of "killing" his son, how off-putting. Maybe this account was brutally honest about his thoughts at the time; it's clear that he saw this tragedy as more concerning him than concerning his son.
Rating:
Summary: I'm glad he's not my father.
Review: I agree with the "Rescuing Richard" review. I picked up this book hoping to be inspired by it; instead, I was disgusted by the author's audacity in his refusal to allow his son, a few months shy of 18, to make his own decision regarding life support. The author states that the boy's pediatrician was horrified to hear that the parents were considering removing life support. "You can't do that", the pediatrician says. "Your son has a viable brain." Exactly. We're not talking about a comatose or brain dead victim. Legally the author could remove life support. Ethically? The decision was clearly based on the author's opinion that his son's life was now not worth living. How tragic it would have been had he followed through with this. The arrogance of his point of view was appalling. The phrasing he chose, speaking of "killing" his son, how off-putting. Maybe this account was brutally honest about his thoughts at the time; it's clear that he saw this tragedy as more concerning him than concerning his son.
Rating:
Summary: Heard Galli on radio, will now read book
Review: I came very close to weeping when I heard Mr. Galli on the radio talking about rescuing Jeffrey. I had to get to work and didn't hear the end and so am buying the book to read. Will critique again then. I know it will be excellent reading, just listening to his father speak was emotional for me as I am a parent with three sons and would be devastated if in his place. Obviously a must reading.
Rating:
Summary: Wow! Read This Book!
Review: I read Tuesdays With Morrie and was moved by the thought of a relationship rekindled - at a time when it still had a chance to matter to both individuals. I read Rescuing Jeffrey and was moved by much more than that. With riveting eloquence, one dad shares with all of us his horrific struggle to do what he thinks is best for his terribly injured son. Galli does not ask for our understanding or our support. He simply tells his story with brutal honesty. The book grabs you and takes you on an emotional journey from which you truly emerge a different person. You cannot put this book down, your tears wet the pages as you turn them, but you rejoice in Jeffrey Galli's own declaration that he wants to continue life's journey - even with the cards that now have been dealt him. While Galli argues with the system for the right to end his son's life, his account of those ten days reveals too many points along the way where he actually is searching for reasons to let that decision be Jeffrey's. In the end, Galli recognizes that, too. He probably knew it all along. He just was lucky enough to have a son who reminded him of it when it counted the most. This is a life-affirming narrative of the first order.
Rating:
Summary: A very honest and heart warming story.
Review: I thought Resuing Jeffrey was a very honest story about when life deals you a rotten hand. Having gone through my own experience with my son who came down with Bacterial Meningitis and was left unable to move or speak at the age of 14 I can truly understand how Richard Galli was feeling. Not everything that goes through your mind is always pleasant. You are in store for so many things that you probably never though you would have to deal with. Rescuing Jeffrey made me cry because nobody knows how hard it is when it is your child. A very moving book.
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: If ever a book forced a reader to consider the vagaries of life, and what life is all about, this is it. Moreover, I thought that Mr. Galli had an excellent writing style, straightforward, muscular and unflinching, just right for this incredibly sad story. I also thought that the notes of support from the Galli's friends and acquaintances were a real addition to the book. They show us not only the meaning of what it is to have close friends, but perhaps as importantly, how people instinctly can pull together to support and rally around those who they may not even count as close friends, but who are mere acquaintances. I did have a few very minor quibbles. One is that I was surprised that there was hardly any discussion whatsoever about how the accident actually happended. All we are basically told is that Jeffrey dove into a pool and hit his head. Well if I dive into the deep end of a 10-foot pool, I'm not going to hit my head, so that is obviously not what happened here. But what did happen? Did he "dive" into the shallow end. That doesn't seem so likely. Did he not know how deep it was? Did he not stick his arms out to break the fall? I recognize that the "how" is not the point of the book, but I would have expected to see at least a paragraph or two as to exactly what happened (or even to tell the reader that they don't actually know what happened). Second, while I thoroughly admired the way in which Mr. Galli dealt with this tragedy, I found his own self-regard somewhat off-putting. I don't mean this in the sense of how thoughts or emotions or acts in terms of Jeff's situation per se. Rather, it seemed as if, when dealing with aspects of his life not directly involving Jeff (i.e the author's pre-accident life), I felt that he was not lacking in self-praise as to his panoply of talents. I could be wrong about that of course, but that was the sense I had. Despite that, I still feel that the book is a real achievement and Jeff is lucky to have such a father.
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