No Time Like the Future

An Optimist Considers Mortality

By: Michael J. Fox

Narrated by: Michael J. Fox

Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

This program is read by Michael J. Fox.

A moving account of resilience, hope, fear and mortality, and how these things resonate in our lives, by actor and advocate Michael J. Fox.

The entire world knows Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, the teenage sidekick of Doc Brown in Back to the Future; as Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties; as Mike Flaherty in Spin City; and through numerous other movie roles and guest appearances on shows such as The Good Wife and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Diagnosed at age 29, Michael is equally engaged in Parkinson’s advocacy work, raising global awareness of the disease and helping find a cure through The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, the world’s leading non-profit funder of PD science. His two previous best-selling memoirs, Lucky Man and Always Looking Up, dealt with how he came to terms with the illness, all the while exhibiting his iconic optimism. His new memoir reassesses this outlook, as events in the past decade presented additional challenges.

In No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality, Michael shares personal stories and observations about illness and health, aging, the strength of family and friends, and how our perceptions about time affect the way we approach mortality. Thoughtful and moving, but with Fox’s trademark sense of humor, his audiobook provides a vehicle for reflection about our lives, our loves, and our losses.

Running through the narrative is the drama of the medical madness Fox recently experienced, that included his daily negotiations with the Parkinson’s disease he’s had since 1991, and a spinal cord issue that necessitated immediate surgery. His challenge to learn how to walk again, only to suffer a devastating fall, nearly caused him to ditch his trademark optimism and “get out of the lemonade business altogether.”

Does he make it all of the way back? Listen to the audiobook.

Barnes & Noble Best New Books of the Year - 2020

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

©2020 Michael J. Fox (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

Just what I needed!

Amazing story - boosted my hope for better days to come in this Covid-19 crisis and my own personal struggles. Thanks for sharing it, Michael!

Really good listen.

You don’t need to be Parkinson’s patient enjoy this book. Michael J Fox is in an articulate and thoughtful author with a sharp, self deprecating wit. His life lessons and stories can be insightful for anyone facing challenges. And isn’t that all of us?

Hoping for more revelatory prose.. or perhaps

a deeper analysis of mortality. It's instead an autobiography of Fox's challenging 20 years or so since diagnosis and a saccharine look at the value of family.

Interesting Book

Great book but so hard to understand you Mike. You talk too fast! I had to slow you down.

listen with headphones!

If you struggle as I do to understand recorded speech that is not clearly enunciated, I recommend using headphones. I know his lack of clear enunciation is a result of his Parkinson's, so it's not a criticism of him in any way, it just made it difficult for me to follow sometimes.

In all, this was a very good and seemingly honest memoir. For someone who prides themselves on keeping a sunny outlook, it was probably very difficult for him to explore the darker stuff, but I'm so glad he did.

strength in suffering

loved this! we all have our demons to overcome...
very well spoken and communicated. humbled

Loved this book!

I took another reviewer’s advice and slowed the pace to .8x and it made it perfect. Michael J. Fox is a gem of a man. I loved this book and loved it even more spoken in his own voice and with his boy-next-door style. Heart-wrenching at times, he can’t deny his optimistic spirit even though acknowledging the difficult medical and emotional perils of his existence throughout his love of his wife and family shine through. I Love him even more after listening to ”No Time Like the Future”. I plan to buy his other books as well.

Great

Great story. A lot has happened and being brave to share his trials and accomplishments really put things in perspective. Thanks for sharing.

Inspirational

I always love Michael J Fox. His story is real and thought provoking. I read in another review to slow down the reading slightly and it helped with understanding the words. I give him credit for reading it himself. It brings additional meaning to the book.

Joy

I wanted the title of this review to be: How to mine joy like a gold vein from a rock face or a sponge cake. Joy can be right in front of your face and easy, then change happens, and change is unavoidable, and suddenly life can be about endurance and having joy like digging for gold entombed in granite with a toy pick axe.
Somehow giving from our scarcity softens that granite right up. Fox didnt use those words but his experience and story did.
The truth is sometimes we humans get dealt a lousy hand-maybe just for a time or season-maybe a life time. But the same truth is for everyone: Find a way to give and readjust priorities as change, good or bad, happens and take time to have fun-he likes golf. Train your mind and spirit to be grateful in the moment and on reflection. There is so much more in this book. 5/5. Thank you, Michael