Crashing Through
Shadow Divers, Robert Kurson explored the depths of history, friendship, and compulsion. Now Kurson returns with another thrilling adventure--the stunning true story of one man's heroic odyssey from blindness into sight.Mike May spent his life crashing through. Blinded at age three, he defied expectations by breaking world records in downhill speed skiing, joining the CIA, and becoming a successful inventor, entrepreneur, and family man. He had never yearned for vision.Then, in 1999, a chance encounter brought startling news: a revolutionary stem cell transplant surgery could restore May's vision. It would allow him to drive, to read, to see his children's faces. He began to contemplate an astonishing new world: Would music still sound the same? Would sex be different? Would he recognize himself in the mirror? Would his marriage survive? Would he still be Mike May?The procedure was filled with risks, some of them deadly, others beyond May's wildest dreams. Even if the surgery worked, history was against him. Fewer than twenty cases were known worldwide in which a person gained vision after a lifetime of blindness. Each of those people suffered desperate consequences we can scarcely imagine.There were countless reasons for May to pass on vision. He could think of only a single reason to go forward.
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- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. by Mark Haddon (http://www.amazon.com/Curious-Incident-Dog-Night-Time/dp/140...) - engaging story written from the point of view of an austistic teenager. One of my favorite characters in any book I've ever read.
Crashing Through by Robert Kurson (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812973682/ref=ox_ya_oh_pro...) - inspiring story of sight restoration to a lifelong blind man. Fascinating exploration on vision, learning, and a lot of other stuff we take for granted.
The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140067477/ref=ox_ya_oh_pro...) - Taoism and Winnie the Pooh. 'nuff said.
Life Entrepreneurs by Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0787988626/ref=ox_ya_oh_pro...) - applying and expanding the principles of entrepreneurship to your life as a whole, not just your business.
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307454622/ref=ox_ya_oh_pro...) - I thought the movie was great, and this book is great too, in a different way. The writing is clean and evocative, the dialogue is provoking and realistic. I'm a fan of Richard Yates after reading this book.
- A couple of years ago I read a non-fiction book called Crashing Through[1] - about a guy who was blinded by some chemical at a very young age (<1y) and was able to have his vision restored in his 40s via a new procedure.
It went on about some difficulties he had processing the new data. His brain had to "learn" how to see. It was so difficult that he would sometimes close his eyes and and rely on his echolocation skills to navigate.
Very interesting book if you want a first hand account of what it is like to go from being blind to being able to see. (and also about being blind)
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Crashing-Through-Extraordinary-Story-D...
- Parallel procedure described in this book, reattaching optic nerve to intact retina, if I remember correctly.
http://www.amazon.com/Crashing-Through-Story-Adventure-Dared...
