Learning to reprogram his life at L.A.'s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, he felt "fear, guilt, loss, more fear" and had crying jags plus the shame and embarrassment of bowel accidents. Listing a litany of "pride-bruising indignities,"such as being gawked at and carried up stairs "like a beanbag chair," he explains how he confronted each new challenge.

With many pages devoted to dealing with the "overly kind" able-bodied and their self-conscious attitudes, this potent memoir is also an effective how-to guidebook for anyone who is disabled. Rucker is a gifted observer-humorist, unleashing a straight-arrow honesty and a vibrant, penetrating wit while probing the most intimate aspects of contemporary life and human behavior.

From Booklist: TV writer Rucker likes to think he's on the cutting edge of what lies in the future for all of us. Truth be told, he is. In our hearts, we all know we will one day lose our independence to the ravages of old age and/or illness. Rucker doesn't make it seem as bad, however, as many anticipate. The limiting problem for him is transverse myelitis, which struck him from out of the blue when he was a mere 51 years old and in excellent health. In an hour and a half on a Tuesday afternoon, the able-bodied runner was thrown back to some of the physical helplessness of infancy by paralysis from the waist down. Ten years later, and with self-deprecating humor, he is able to walk--er, roll--through the ups and downs of being wheelchair bound. He has two rules: never whine, and never ask "Why me?" since that leads only to whining. He does lament the lack of positive wheelchair role models in the movies. Meanwhile, he's a good literary role model.

 Harpercollins 0060825286 / 9780060825287
Hardcover As New 

Price: 19.60 USD

Artie Bucco, the character (played by John Ventimiglia) who is the chef at the show's Vesuvio restaurant, sets the tone of this book of insider "family" secrets by explaining his family's move from Campania, Italy, to New Jersey, then turns to various Soprano characters. (A brief chapter on Neapolitan cooking is explained by the Newark Public Library's Natalie del Greco, who offers recipes for a simple Marinara Sauce as well as a Sunday Gravy.) In a chapter entitled "The Soprano Family Tradition," Bucco listens as Corrado Soprano Jr., or Uncle Jun', reminisces about Newark's Little Italy (which at one time felt like an "Italian Disneyland") while whetting his appetite with thoughts of Pasta Fagiole and Panzerotti (Neapolitan Potato Croquettes). While the book's conceit is playfully written by Rucker (The Sopranos: A Family History) in the voice of each character, the recipes, by Scicolone (Italian Holiday Cooking), are solid and honest-to-goodness Italian-American dishes. In a conversation with Bucco, Carmela Soprano reveals her Sicilian upbringing through such recipes as `Shcarole and Garlic (sauteed escarole), while scale-tipping Bobby Bacala pontificates on the importance of sweets and offers his own way to make Cannoli. Even the godfather himself, Tony Soprano, lectures on the art of the grill (fans will remember his BBQ panic attack). In the end, readers are left with a book-filled with stills from Soprano episodes-that is alternately enticing and wonderfully tacky, just like the Soprano family members themselves. . Frank Pellegrino, co-owner Rao's Restaurant and author of Rao's Cookbook ".a wonderful cookbook.simple, well done, and easy to make.this book deserves its own Emmy!" 200 pages.

 Warner Books, Inc 0446530573 / 9780446530576
Soft Cover As New Condition As New Book Jacket New York 

Price: 24.01 USD