Fully Alive

By: Timothy Shriver

Narrated by: David Drummond

Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's Summary

At a time when we are all more rudderless than ever, we look for the very best teachers and mentors to guide us. InFully Alive, an unusual and gripping memoir, Timothy Shriver shows how his teachers have been the world's most forgotten minority: people with intellectual disabilities. In these pages we meet the individuals who helped him come of age and find a deeper and more meaningful way to see the world. Shriver's journey begins close to home, where the quiet legacy of his aunt Rosemary, a Kennedy whose intellectual disability kept her far from the limelight, inspired his family to devote their careers to helping the most vulnerable. He plays alongside the children of Camp Shriver, his mother's revolutionary project, which provided a space for children with intellectual disabilities to play, and years later he gains invaluable wisdom from the incredible athletes he befriends as chairman of the organization it inspired, Special Olympics. Fully Alive is both a moving personal journey and a meditation on some of the greatest wisdom and the greatest contradictions of our society. Is disability to be feared or welcomed, pitied or purged? Shriver argues that we all have different abilities and challenges we should embrace. We see how those who appear powerless have turned this seeming shortcoming into a power of their own, and we learn that we are all totally vulnerable and valuable at the same time.

©2014 Timothy Shriver (P)2015 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"Sincere, profound and deeply satisfying." ( Kirkus Starred Review)

Eye opening book

Great story for Kennedy fans but much deeper. Probably one of the few authors who hasn't irritated me with overbearing faith discussions. The story is about helping those in need and the realization that they are helping us understand the meaning of life and what is important in life. A great section on Nelson Mandela. Really a heart warming book. Will I serve in the special Olympics or similar orgs? Will I help those in need? Or will I continue to do my crappy back office computer job? I hope that I have enough strength to step outside of my comfort zone and will try to do something that truly makes me feel proud and happy with my life. This book is helping me get that strength.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

I read this book three times and recommend it highly to folks who need to build compassion and community in their lives.

Must read for anyone who finds it uncomfortable to look a disabled child or adult in the eyes , smile and greet them.

Not what I was looking for

I didn't get through first chapter. I found it very sad and too religious. I was looking for a historical biography type of book. It

0 of 1 people found this review helpful