Christopher Reeve

The whole world held its breath in 1995 as Christopher Reeve struggled for his life after breaking his neck in a riding accident. Today, he cannot walk, he cannot even move his arms, and yet he has directed an Emmy Award-winning HBO movie. Now, in a deeply inspiring testament to the human spirit, Reeve recounts his trials and triumphs. Includes 32 pages of photos.

In Nothing is Impossible: Reflections on a New Life, Christopher Reeve challenges readers not to accept limitations - those set by oneself or by others - but to harness our untapped resources. Christopher Reeve has mastered the art of turning the impossible into the inevitable. In Nothing is Impossible he shows that we are all capable of overcoming seemingly insurmountable hardships. He interweaves anecdotes from his own life with speeches and interviews he's given and with evocative photographs taken by his son, Matthew. Reeve teaches us that for able-bodied people, paralysis is a choice - a choice to live with self-doubt and a fear of taking risks - and that it is not an acceptable one. Christopher Reeve knows from experience that the work of conquering inner space is hard and that it inevitably requires some suffering - nothing worth having is easy to get, after all. He also asks challenging questions about why it seems so difficult - if not impossible - for us to work together as a society. But he never preaches; he steers the reader gently, reflecting and offering guidance, not the pat answers that often characterise works of inspiration. Nothing is Impossible reminds us that life is not to be taken for granted but to be lived fully with zeal, curiosity, and gratitude. That is a powerful message in itself, but it is the messenger who gives it its full resonance.

Through his leading role in the three 'Superman' films, Christopher Reeve became so closely identified with the superhero that he wasn't just seen as the actor who played Superman, he was Superman. Which is why the tragic riding accident which left him paralysed from the neck down shocked the world. Superman was not superhuman. It is also why he is now the world's most recognisable person in a wheelchair. In true super-hero style, Christopher Reeve refuses to resign himself to the life of a quadriplegic, and is actively campaigning to raise the profile of spinal-cord injury victims and research. Although he was initially told that he would only ever be able to move his head, he can now shrug his shoulders and breathe alone for increasing periods of time, and is determined that he will walk again. It is this extraordinary courage and determination that has made Christopher Reeve the internationally admired, inspiring figure he is, and it is this bravery which shines through in this full autobiography of both his paralysis, and his journey to recovery.

The actor's autobiography reveals touching details of his life both before and after a 1995 riding accident left him paralyzed from the neck down. Reeve corresponds with other families that have been affected by a spinal cord injury and speaks out on their behalf.

El accidente de equitación que Christopher Reeve sufrió en 1995 y a consecuencia del cual quedó tetrapléjico supuso para él un punto de inflexión en su vida. Desde entonces, Reeve vive consagrado a la superacion personal y, en su empeño, ha llegado a dominar el arte de hacer de lo imposible lo inevitable. En Todo es posible, Reeve demuestra que todos somos capaces de superar infortunios en apariencia irremediables; nos enseña que, para quienes gozan de un cuerpo sano, la paralisis es una opcion voluntaria -una eleccion personal que consiste en vivir abnegado por las dudas y por el miedo a asumir riesgos-, y que esa opcion es inaceptable. Reeve sabe por experiencia propia que conquistar el espacio interior es una ardua labor y que requiere sufrimiento. En este libro, en el que intercala anecdotas de su vida con fragmentos extraidos de sus discursos y entrevistas, Reeve guia sutilmente al lector, ofreciendole sus reflexiones.

«Aquest llibre no és només un testimoni, sinó un exemple de superació. Una prova més de que qualsevol persona, per molt greus que siguin les seves discapacitats o les seves circumstàncies, pot millor