The Time of My Life by Patrick Swayze & Lisa Niemi (Audiobook)

In 1984 I watched a movie called Red Dawn starring Patrick Swayze and I developed an instant crush. Three years later came Dirty Dancing and my crush turned to full on LUST! Patrick Swayze was the sexiest man alive as far as I was concerned. I've lost count as to how many times I've seen that movie, not to mention how many times I wished I could be Jennifer Grey for five minutes! When I heard about his pancreatic cancer diagnosis, I was heartbroken. Having lost a friend to this brutal form of cancer very quickly, I understood immediately how bad this was.

I knew he and wife, Lisa Niemi were in the process of writing a book about his life and I decided when I discovered Patrick himself would be narrating the audio version, that's what I wanted. I'm not a big audiobook user, but in this case, for me, it was the only way to experience this book. And I'm so glad I did. Having Patrick narrate this book makes it a more intimate and personal experience because you feel like he's talking directly to you. Obviously, you lose the benefit of any photos in the book, but that isn't a big deal for me. Even during some really bad days while recording this book, his voice is even, strong and sexy as ever.

The start of The Time of My Life is Patrick explaining how he came to realize something was not right with his health and how it changed his life. Then, it's Lisa's turn to explain how that realization effected her. I believe, in the printed version, that is the prologue.

Patrick then starts telling his story from 1970 when he was a high school athlete, dancer and gymnast. He chronicles his career and personal accomplishments he and Lisa shared along with some really tough times in his personal life. It becomes obvious pretty early on how fierce his competitive nature was and how much he loved striving to be the best at whatever he put his mind to. But it was also clear that dancing was his first love. With a mother like Patsy Swayze, a very respected dancer, choreographer and teacher, it was inevitable he become an accomplished dancer in his own rite.

Although I've read a few reviews that felt the book is more of a rundown of his movie career than the story of his life, I feel differently. It's quite clear that for Patrick and Lisa, their movies and dancing were their life. They worked hard as a team on every endeavor they attempted and they gave each project 110 percent. This book shows that Patrick lived an extremely full life doing exactly the things he loved to do. He did have passions other than acting and dancing as well. He also loved horses and flying airplanes and therefore became an accomplished rider and pilot.

If there is one message that I will take away from this book, it is to live life to the fullest each and every day. That's what Patrick did. He wasn't afraid to tackle anything. He had incredible drive and it's that drive that enabled him to fight pancreatic cancer as hard as he did.

This book was very inspirational and interesting and I recommend it for fans of Patrick Swayze. In fact, if you get the chance to listen to the audio book, it will be even better, hearing Patrick in his own words and voice.

THE TIME OF MY LIFE (Audiobook)

Author: Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: September 29, 2009

Discs: 5

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Booking Through Thursday: Memoirs

Do you read celebrity memoirs? What ones have you read or do you want to read? Which non-existant celebrity memoir would you like to see?

This is a pretty simple one for me. I'm not generally a big reader of memoirs. Twenty years ago I read a biography of Marilyn Monroe, that I found very interesting. I also read Dolly Parton's memoir, which was very good and eye opening. One of the most difficult ones I've read was Christopher Reeve's STILL ME, that I read in 1998. More recently I read Elizabeth Edwards' SAVING GRACES. I have a memoir on my TBR pile and that is THE GLASS CASTLE by Jeanette Walls, that I'm hoping to read this year.

I can't really think of a celebrity memoir that hasn't been written yet that I am anxious to read. Most times, if they are a celebrity, I'm a fan because of their talent, not for their personal life, so I feel like it's not necessary for me to know everything about them in that regard. Case in point, Michael Jackson. I respect him tremendously for his musical genius, but I don't really understand or feel the need to know more about his eccentric personal life. These days, the media over saturates us with celebrity coverage, making me far less likely to pick up their memoir. Even with Farrah, I've seen so many television reports and shows on her life lately, I don't think theire's anything in a book that probably hasn't already been aired. That's not to say I won't read memoirs, I'm just very selective of the ones I do read.