Readers Club Response for Sorry, Not Dead Yet!

by Sven M. Paardekooper

Based on 3 responses:

What are your overall thoughts about the book/story?  5      (5 – Perfect    3 – Average    1 – Horrible)

Would you recommend it to someone else to read?  4.34      (5 – Without A Doubt     3 – Might     1 – Not at All)

 

Comments:

It was very hard to read at times, because I felt such sadness and much anger for him.  Open your hearts and minds, People.  L. Weber

Sorry, Not Dead Yet! is an inspiring true story of the resiliency of the human spirit.  For years I’ve heard “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” and I’ve always hated the phrase.  But after reading this story truer words have never been spoken.  Finally we can see someone beat the odds, not sit on his pity pot, but really take his power back and gain a life worth living.  Sorry, Not Dead Yet! really conveys that we are the only ones with the power to change our own lives, choices, destiny and certainly the only true happiness is found within ourselves.  Amazing story of the journey of self discovery.  L Vasquez

This is a gut wrenching rollercoaster ride through the life of a man forced to visit hell's darkest corners in order to discover a sense of self worth and a reason to live.

It's certainly not for the faint hearted because there's plenty of sexually explicit content - sometimes shocking, sometimes amusing and always written with the kind of searing honesty which leaves you reeling.

The writing style is a fascinating blend of punch in the face prose (at times you really do wonder what's hit you) peppered with beautifully crafted poetic passages.

So many of us in Western society wear so many masks these days that it's a very rare privilege to be allowed to see straight into the heart and soul of a fellow human being. It must have taken some real guts for the author - who once handed out business cards with the words "An experience above a lay" - to have laid himself so completely bare (this time in the literary sense!).

It's an incredibly powerful, brutally honest story of parental rejection, abandonment, ultimate betrayal and the deepest possible despair. It charts the tale of a lost and lonely Dutch boy who sets forth to the New World with high hopes of finding his place and purpose in life.

Those hopes are shattered into a million pieces in some of the cruellest ways imaginable, culminating in his darkest hour - 10am on July 5 2001 when he finds out he's HIV+.

So far, so bad. This should be a really depressing book but in fact it's quite the opposite. The author's razor sharp wit and natural gift for writing sweep us along with him on unstoppable waves of laugh out loud passages, highly entertaining anecdotes and insightful social commentary.

Ultimately this is a truly uplifting story of triumph over adversity.

You'd think there's nothing very Disney-esque about HIV, crystal meth addiction and rampant gay sex. But there's a real Cinderella quality about this book.

Against all the odds, we're left with the feeling that the author is one of the lucky few who's managing to do what most of us only dream about...live happily ever after.

The following review sums up my own feelings about the book but I couldn’t have expressed it so well!  A. Knight

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry, Not Dead Yet!

This book is on Pre Order Only

Suggested Retail Price: $14.95 

Publishers Price $12.95