Thursday, December 8, 2011

Book Review: Ridiculous: An Autobrainography

Ridiculous: Ricky Tsang

Ricky Tsang’s book is a journey into a brilliant mind: the reader will find humor (dark/bawdy and/or hilarious), love, tenderness, truth and fantasy within its pages.

Diagnosed with Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy at age seven, Ricky has witnessed the gradual wasting of his muscles as a result of this cruel, incurable disease. When he lost of the use of his hands, he turned to writing (with the aid of his computer) to express himself. This book is a result of several years of posts on his popular blog.

I enjoyed his original and creative style, and because of his humor and sense of the ridiculous, the reader does not read about his life with pity but with interest and respect. Though many of his essays are philosophical or humorous, an occasional mention of incompetent nurses (on whom he must depend for every physical need) illustrates the fragility of his daily existence. He finds daily support from his dedicated family, of whom he writes with great love and admiration.

He also writes with great tenderness of love, especially romantic love, and criticizes our cultural obsession with beauty; in a series of essays dedicated to women of every nationality and culture, he expounds upon their particular qualities that he finds beautiful and encourages them to celebrate these features, while expressing his great admiration for them.

This is a touching and intriguing book; no one label can describe this multifaceted look into the genius of Ricky Tsang’s mind. I hope he continues to blog and publish, as his is a most original voice.



I've since had this rewarding correspondence with Ricky. Somedays it just pays to review books once in a while! 


·       
November 23
o         Hi Ms. Jensen,

This is Ricky Tsang. You reviewed my book, Ridiculous, and posted it this morning. I hope you don't mind my messaging you, but I want to thank you for your wonderful critique of my book. It's really encouraging that an award winning writer actually thinks good of my literary style. I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you again.

Ricky
·       
November 23
o        And Happy Thanksgiving! I'm Canadian. I forgot. (:
·       
Yesterday
o        Ricky, wonderful to hear from you! I'm so pleased you liked my review. Keep writing!
·       
16 minutes ago
o        Oh, I LOVE your review. You hit the nail on its head, and my friends and family agree. I particularly love the fact that you understand I'm not looking for pity, but mutual respect for who I am.

Do you mind if I borrow your picture for my website? I'm going to feature your review on the front page soon.

By the way, great news! The Toronto Star, the largest newspaper in all of Canada, is writing an article about my story and book. It should be published right before Christmas. I’m super excited!

And about a month ago, I recorded my music at a professional studio and they’re published online now. However, I also showed the songs we recorded during my Monday interview to the reporter. He was so impressed that he’s going put my music on their website. I’m going national!

If you want to listen to and watch them, here’s the link:http://www.rickytsang.ca/multimedia/music/
o   
Music written and composed by Ricky Tsang.
·       a few seconds ago
o        That's wonderful, Ricky! I'll be excited to hear your music. I'd be tickled to have you feature my review and picture on your website. Let me know when you do so I can link to it. BTW, I was so impressed with what you wrote about your family.

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