The Best Seat in the House: How I Woke Up One Tuesday and Was Paralyzed for Life

By Allen Rucker

Book Overview

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 cliches, 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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060825286
• ISBN13: 9780060825287
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Harper
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

You don't have to be a "crip" to get something out of this book.

First off I would like to thank the author for introducing me to a new non-PC term for a group of Americans. Not that I am going to go around calling everyone in a walker a "crip" now, but it's always nice to get a chance to explore the topics. Allen brings you into a world that it would be too awkward to ask about, like rap music does for middle class white kids. The real meat of the book though is the way Allen honestly explores dealing with catastrophe and even manages to slip in a bit of good advice that manages to never come across in a Tony Robbins-esque way. I found it very inspiring, and I don't inspire easy. Its humor and honesty make this book a really enjoyable read. After you read it you'll never park in a handy capped space again. (Or maybe you'll start parking in them all the time. Who knows?)

Wisdom Wrapped In Humor And Good Sense

A friend of mine told me about "Best Seat In The House", and said it was really, really funny. I said, "Okay, a guy wakes up one morning and he's paralyzed. How funny can that be?" Well it is funny, hilarious in places. But it's also poignant and sensible and thought-provoking and incredibly readable. I later learned that Allen Rucker was the guy who wrote "White People In America" along with Martin Mull. That was maybe the first mock documentary I ever saw, and is still the funniest. Rucker has a great take on life, and it's been fine-tuned by this paralysis in a way that's turned him into a wise philosopher with a lousy spine but a heckuva funnybone.

Very interesting journey

A friend got this for me the day it came out. Allen Rucker provides both a humorous and touching account of his journey in progress, and doesn't leave much out...from his brutal honesty about his career path as a Hollywood writer, to his introduction and dealings with transverse myelitis. I enjoyed this book and recommend it to others.

I laughed, I cried...I loved this book! Very inspirational memoir!

While it's not a topic many of us wish to think about -- the potential of waking up someday with some life-altering condition that will literally force us to rethink everything about our lives and how to go about it -- this book is an incredibly worthwhile read. As another reviewer noted, it's a great book to buy for anyone that could benefit from a little understanding of the disabled point of view. What struck me most about this book (other than the fact that I read it in two days, which is fast for me as a WAHM) was that Rucker is so open about the feelings he experienced -- and without coming across as feeling sorry for himself. Quite the contrary -- Rucker kind of seems to have used his condition as a kick in the pants for his life overall. So a pivotal event that for most others would be devastating is, for him, enlightening. I found this book to be incredibly inspirational overall -- and I think it will find an audience with anyone who has ever wondered about the disabled person's experience. I'll be buying this book for others for a long time to come, I think. A great, great story.

Buy this book!

This is one of those books everyone should read. Parents, buy it for your teenagers. Teenagers, buy it for your parents. Infertile Adults, buy it for your friends. "Best Seat in the House" is touching without being schmaltzy and laugh-out-loud funny at just the right moments. I'm not one of those people who breezes through books (my eyes normally tire out after 30 minutes or so). This one I picked up around 6 pm and finished around 2 am, never pausing to eat, drink, or acknowledge my girlfriend. I can't over-recommend this book. I bought it yesterday and am already referring to it as a "classic".