Book Review: Against Medical Advice by James Patterson and Hal Friedman

From Goodreads: 


Cory Friedman woke up one morning when he was five years old with the uncontrollable urge to twitch his neck. From that day forward his life became a hell of irrepressible tics and involuntary utterances, and Cory embarked on an excruciating journey from specialist to specialist to discover the cause of his disease. Soon it became unclear what tics were symptoms of his disease and what were side effects of the countless combinations of drugs. The only certainty is that it kept getting worse. Simply put: Cory Friedman's life was a living hell

Published: October, 2008
Author: James Patterson, Hal Friedman
Genre: Non Fiction, Biography
My Rating: 5/5
Pages: 304

Once in a while, you read a book that leaves you so spell bounded and heart broken that you cannot even think about it. It is not just a story for you. It becomes more like a memoir. Last month I read The Fault In Our Stars and I thought to myself, I won't be reading anything this heart breaking and sobbing any time soon. And as Cory puts it, I was wrong.

I was reading something very boring and I opened James Patterson to read something different and feel the thrill of what he writes. But I had no idea that this book was life changing. I guarantee one thing. If you read this book, it will change your life. It will change the way you think about it. The way you perceive it.

Cory is a drug addict. Not the kind you are thinking right now, no. Doctors made him one. He had Tourettes Syndrome and OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). In short, his mind is not in his control, let alone his body. Its worse than cancer. And reading about him trying to figure out why he is spitting on his own sister when he does not want to, will make you cry.

Cory is a legend. He has achieved things in such a young age that people do not even do in their lifetime. I salute Cory Friedman. I loved ever bit of his journey, his failures and his triumphs, his struggles with life, struggles which were not even his own creation. He just had to deal with the crap that life is. But thing is, he made the most out of it, unlike any of us. He defeated life at its own game.  He turned his fears into his wins. His life was hell and one day, something changed and he decided to turn his life around. I am actually hoping that happens to me, some switch turns on and I get to see life in a different way.

The book itself was written in a very simple way, with the narrative being Cory himself but the story was so heart breaking that it needed nothing else. The story itself was very strong and had a great impact.The best part about the book was that he enjoyed his life even through all the awkward situations he went through. And I want to ride a bike like he does, someday.

"I will survive. I will love life; if life will love me." -Cory Friedman 

...SAP...