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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brutally honest, 28 Jan 2001
By A Customer
This book was of particular interest to me because I have been living with manic depression for the last 8 years and am also a skydiver (although definitely not in Tom's league). So it was very interesting for me to read about Tom Read's 'breakdown' and recovery.Reading the book it struck me again and again that the author is a man who thrives on the challenges, the journey rather than the destination. From a skydiving point of view, the 'go low' story in the book (while he was with the Red Devils) was annoying since it is this kind of macho idiotic behaviour that leads to bounces and gives the sport a bad name. But then again, it did happen, it is his book and he got to decide what to include. I hope people reading the book do not come to the conclusion that skydiving = mentally unstable. In my case skydiving is an important part of my life that helps keep my feet flat on the ground (pun intended) - along with regular check-ups of course. I would rather have one year of Tom Read's life (well preferably not the year when he had his problems) than 40 years of cardigans and anoraks - watching tv and worrying about mortgages. Tom Read is living his life - he is the pilot not the passenger. I would recommend this book to anyone who skydives and anyone who has Bipolar (or their friends or family). It is a very selfish disease that takes you through a very personal hell. Hopefully people reading Tom's book will get some insight into this and realize that it is a chemical imbalance that causes the manic highs and lows, nobody chooses to suffer from manic depression (trust me on that one). The fact that Tom might never break Joe Kittinger's record is totally arbitrary - he has overcome a challenge much bigger. For this I admire him immensely and hope that should he ever suffer another manic episode he is wise enough to get professional help immediately (even if it does mean normalizing drugs). I am going to keep my copy of Freefall with me this summer, because I hope that I will bump into the author sooner or later, maybe at Netheravon, maybe at Empuria Brava (you spelt it wrong in the book Tom). And if I do bump into the author I am hoping for an autograph and who knows, maybe even a 2-way? (I'll pay for his ticket of course!) Blue skies!
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