Seven Wheelchairs: A Life beyond Polio by Gary PresleyMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Still oddly fascinated with polio, I searched for books written by people who have experienced it first-hand. I saw this book on the library catalog and inter-library loaned it. It was pretty good, but I found it to be slow at times.
This book is about a man who reflects upon his life and how everything changed for him and his loved ones when he gets polio at age 17. He shares with the reader the difficulties he faced as he learns to live again after becoming wheelchair bound just when he thought his life and independence was beginning.
I have to admit that I'm always a bit skeptical when it comes to memoirs, because, oftentimes, they're written by those who aren't regular writers. I become overly critical of parts that seem slow or repetitive, because, to my mind, the untrained author is simply filling space to meet some type of page requirement set by the publisher. Although Presley has indeed had articles included in numerous publications, I found myself becoming annoyed with that feeling of slow pace and repetition.
That said, there aren't many books written by those who were struck with polio, and since I'm still amazed that such a horrible disease existed such a relatively short time ago, I don't have much room to be picky. So, in that case, thanks to the author for sharing his story.
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