Genre: Collection (essays)
Publisher: Random House Publishers, 2003
Pages: 157
Rating: Highly Recommend
Synopsis: Philip Simmons was just thirty-five years old in 1993 when he learned that he had ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, and was told he had less than five years to live. As a young husband and father, and at the start of a promising literary career, he suddenly had to learn the art of dying. Nine years later, he has succeeded, against the odds, in learning the art of living. Now, in this surprisingly joyous and spirit-renewing book, he chronicles his search for peace and his deepening relationship with the mystery of everyday life.
Set amid the rugged New Hampshire mountains he once climbed, and filled with the bustle of family life against the quiet progression of illness, Learning to Fall illuminates the journey we all must take — “the work of learning to live richly in the face of loss.”
"Philip reminds us that life is terminal and that it never turns out as we expect it to. Loved ones die, careers crash, health fails. We are always falling down. And it is in the very falling that we discover the preciousness of life."
From our first faltering steps, Simmons says, we may fall into disappointment or grief, fall into or out of love, fall from youth or health. And though we have little choice as to the timing or means of our descent, we may, as he affirms, “fall with grace, to grace.”
With humor, hard-earned wisdom and a keen eye for life’s lessons — whether drawn from great poetry or visits to the town dump — Simmons shares his discovery that even at times of great sorrow we may find profound freedom. And by sharing the wonder of his daily life, he offers us the gift of connecting more deeply and joyously with our own.
Review: Philip Simmons was an associate professor of English at Lake Forest College in Illinois. That alone made me question my real desire to read this book. I know all about English professors and their worlds of symbolism and deep thought. However, based on my personal experiences over the last 11 years, the book synopsis interested me more than reading it scared me. And thank God for that. Without a doubt, and even with 3.5 months of reading left in the year, this is my #1 recommended read for 2011.
As I started reading, I began bookmarking pages and paragraphs that held the bits of wisdom that I wanted to discuss during this review. However, it quickly became apparent that each paragraph and each chapter (essay) leads to insights and revelations that cannot be simply summarized in my short review. I would have done my readers an injustice in trying to compress Philip Simmon's words.
Learning to Fall is not meant to be read; it is meant to be savored. Read each chapter as the stand-alone essay it was meant to be and at the end of each, take some time (a day or longer) to think about what you read. Reflect on the content and the wisdom. Then, move to the next chapter/essay and do the same.
Philip Simmons lived. . .really lived, and leaves the world with a beautiful gift, not a story.
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