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Against All Odds: The Most Amazing True Life Story You'll Ever Read
 
 

Against All Odds: The Most Amazing True Life Story You'll Ever Read [Kindle Edition]

Paul Connolly
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (176 customer reviews)

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It had been years since I had seen any of the children with whom I had grown up. When I left the children's home, I promised myself that I would have nothing to do with them, I was sure that my only chance of living a good life would be to put the past behind me, even though that meant saying goodbye to some of the people I loved the most - as well as the ones I hated...it turned out that six of us had died, several by slow suicide in the form of heroin abuse, and at least two by faster means. When two police officers arrived out of the blue at Paul Connolly's door, he learned the shocking news that, out of the eight children with whom he shared a dormitory in care, only two were still alive. The revelation unearthed painful memories of a childhood that, until this point, Paul had tried desperately to put behind him. Abandoned at two weeks old, Paul came of age in the infamous St Leonards's Children's Home in East London. The children there were routinely abused, often over the course of many years. All were underfed and unloved and told that they would amount to nothing. Angry and frustrated, Paul channelled his rage into boxing - but when an accident shattered his ambition to turn professional, he found his true calling and became a successful trainer, even working as a consultant on the pilot of a top model's fitness video. Paul has finally found peace and fulfilment beyond anyhing he could have imagined all those years ago. He has found happiness with his wife and children and now helps to heal broken bodies, build confidence and transform lives - but he will never forget his past and the unnecessary victims of broken society...

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176 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (176 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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71 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, 31 Jan 2011
This review is from: Against All Odds (Paperback)
A must read, couldn't put it down. I found the book to be gripping and at times really quite emotional. Its amazing how someone with such a bad start in life can turn things around and go on to be a successful businessman with great family values. It goes to show that not everyone with a bad start turns out the way you'd expect.

Paul is most definately an inspiration to everyone. To those, who like himself had a bad start but also to those that didn't that may not appreciate how lucky they were to have a nice childhood.

I would highly recommend this book and have already passed it onto many family and friends.
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97 of 99 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A cliche I know but this is a must-read..., 5 Mar 2010
This review is from: Against All Odds (Paperback)
Reading this book was at different times a painful, funny, emotional, poignant and ultimately uplifting experience.The resileince of the human spirit has never been better illustrated than within this book's pages.

It is also a damning indictment of the institutional 'care' system in post-war Britain and the establishment responsible for creating and running it.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
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91 of 93 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars stunning, 1 Mar 2010
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This review is from: Against All Odds (Paperback)
This is such a raw and honest book that it is at times difficult to read. I am still angry, not just because of the abuse suffered by the youngsters at St Leonards - but at the casual cruelty of the carers pocketing the housekeeping and feeding the children bread and margerine so that they were always hungry. I am far from happy that every crime committed in the course of the book was dealt with adequately. It is a book that really makes you think. It reads like a novel but the central events are a matter of public record and it comes accross as painfully honest. In the end it is a success story - not because of the celebrity side of the fitness training, but on a personal level the fact that despite the abuses of his childhood and the rage he talks about, Paul does finally manage to achieve a loving and happy family life.
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Look in the mirror, because if you dont like what you see you need to change it because your kids will become you. If you have a road-rage incident, your kid will grow up to experience road rage; if you scream and shout, your kid will scream and shout. You want to look in the mirror and stop the behaviour you dont want your kid to emulate. &quote;
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No Viet Cong ever called me nigger, and Im not going to go and kill a yellow man because a white man tells me to. &quote;
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That dreadful understanding, of being utterly alone and unloved, shatters confidence and hope the way nothing else can. &quote;
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