The Bottom Line
Get it. Read it. Listen to him. In Climbing Higher, Montel Williams isn’t messing around. He tells it like it is. I love it.
Montel may have the resources to fly to Sweden to get a second opinion and go snowboarding all over the world as a form of therapy, however, these things make me relate to him even more as he makes clear that in the end, he is still waking up every day and talking himself into it being a good day. Just like the rest of us.
Pros
- This is an incredibly honest account of learning to live with MS
- Motivates the reader to take action and to fight back, while acknowledging that none of it is easy
- Brings controversial issues to light, such as the use of medical marijuana and orphan disease status
Cons
- Can be overwhelming for the newly diagnosed
- A couple of factual problems (i.e. mentions “stages” rather than “types” of MS)
Description
- An honest memoir about life with MS
- A personal “manifesto” which can be adopted (and adapted) by all people with MS
- An additional section of 43 interesting and unusual questions about MS, answered by 5 top neurologists
Guide Review - Review of Climbing Higher by Montel Williams
When I was first going through the process of getting diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), I read this book. I was overwhelmed by everything and a superdose of Solu-Medrol also zapped my memory of what happened from page to page. However, when I picked up the book again, five years later, I was blown away. Montel took me on a ride, not only through his own process of coming to terms with his MS, but an extended and surprising journey of my own feelings and approaches to this disease.
I have to laugh at the occasional reviews of the book that I have read that claim the book is “self-serving” and too focused on Montel. It is, after all, his story of how he is dealing with his diagnosis and his MS.
Montel is honest about all of the stuff that he tries – hokey or not, effective or ineffective, smart or reckless. He speaks of losing hope at times. He is sometimes vain and cocky and he is sometimes sad and lonely. Just like anybody else.
