Memoir Review: No Time Like the Future

While I have always enjoyed Michael J. Fox's performances in TV and movies, I am an even bigger fan of his memoirs. I read Lucky Man while visiting my mother-in-law years ago (she also had Parkinson's) and was blown away by his open, honest sharing of the difficult details of his life. Years later, I listened to Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist on audio, and loved every minute. The memoir was even better read by the author in his familiar voice, and while he still shared his life openly, including his battles with Parkinson's Disease (PD), he was also very, very funny. I laughed out loud while walking around the neighborhood with my earbuds in and also cried. Last month, I listened to his latest memoir, No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality on audio and loved it just as much.

As with his earlier memoirs, Fox shares details of his growing challenges with PD, but that's not all this book is about. He talks about both aging parents and being a parent of adult children, topics I can relate to as I am about the same age as him. He also addresses his own signs of aging, which in his case are heaped on top of PD. Alongside his very relatable stories of family life, the empty nest, and aging are often hilarious stories of being a Hollywood star. He covers both his triumphs, like continuing to act with PD in outstanding roles like Louis Canning on The Good Wife, and his failures, as his PD, a spinal cord issue, and a terrible fall kept him from promptly managing a job he'd committed to, plus his growing difficulties with movements and remembering lines. Through it all, that stark honesty shines through, as well as his great sense of humor. And while he referred to himself as "an incurable optimist" in his last memoir, here he shares the times when that optimism failed him. He is very open and real, and it feels like a close friend is sharing his deepest thoughts and feelings (especially on audio, listening to his own voice reading).

I absolutely loved this memoir on audio, as I did his previous one. Fox is both completely relatable and also the Hollywood celebrity we all know and love. Some passages were so good and so funny that I popped my earbuds out, rewound the audio, and played it out loud for my husband. He especially liked the sections on attempting golf with PD and on Fox's experiences playing Louis Canning (we both loved the show and his role on it). At other times, though, Fox's honest sharing of his challenges and pain and of hitting a low point brought me to tears. Any book that can make me feel that much and get so engaged with the author and the story is an outstanding read for me. As always, Fox is captivating, hilarious, and very inspiring.

256 pages, Flatiron

Macmillan Audio

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

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Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible. It's a fairly long sample, read in that familiar voice, that provides a glimpse into two different parts of the book.

 

You can purchase No Time Like the Future from an independent bookstore, either locally or online, here:

 

You can also buy through indie bookstores using Bookshop.

 

  

Or you can order No Time Like the Future from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.