Customer Reviews

GIMP: When Life Deals You a Crappy Hand, You Can Fold -or You Can Play

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
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It's rare that the voice in my head wakes me up, but there I was this past Saturday pie eyed and amped, to ensure I was the first one to post a review of GIMP on Amazon. Perhaps this sounds a bit obsessive, and it might be, but I feel uniquely qualified for the job. You see about 14 years ago, Mark and I were out celebrating a soccer win, and well... let's just say neither of us made it home that night. This book is the culmination of those wild, painful, phenomenal years.

It would be an understatement to say I've read the book more then once. It's so powerful in places that I literally had to put it down, and walk away. That sounds dramatic, but certain sections are so vivid and life like that it's as if I was reliving them. GIMP is that raw, it's that alive.

Mark Zupan is an exceptional human being.

Perhaps you've seen him in the Oscar nominated film Murderball, or in Jackass 2 and both of these are interesting glimpses into who he is but GIMP is the total portrait.

GIMP is a masterfully written, unflinching stare of brutal yet beautiful honesty. It packs a Tysonesque punch on so many different levels, each relateable to anyone. Families will learn about love, Friends will learn about true friendship. I could go on but suffice it to say, Gimp has a lot of everything, because Mark has a lot of everything. To label it as being a sports book would be doing it a disservice. Labeling it as self help or inspirational wouldn't be inaccurate but it wouldn't be enough. GIMP is true testament to an exceptional life, it's a fast read and well worth you time.

[..]

This is one of the best biographies I've ever read!Nobody could have told
Mark's story as well as he does.Yes,he's often raunchy and rude throughout the book.But he's also brutally frank and honest.He doesn't hide or sugarcoat anything.He freely admits that he's been a major jerk at times.You will feel a lot of things for Mark while reading this,but one thing you won't feel is sympathy-and that's how he wants it.He wants you to treat him just like a normal person.You will,however,come away with a lot of respect for him,because he earns it.This is a remarkable
story of triumph over tragedy.It's also in-your-face,no-nonsense biography at its best.

Most biographies try to be inspirational on some level - but this book goes way beyond that. It peels back the layers on what it really means to be in a wheelchair, but without getting sentimental or mawkish. It's also a great story of friendship between Mark and his best friend--who was driving during the accident that put Mark in a wheelchair. The story of how the two of them have coped over the years, from overcoming the drinking and drugs, to the suicide attempts, and ultimately finding ways to maintain their friendship, is a great read on its own. And there is some shocking, interesting stuff in this one--ever wonder the details of how to have sex in a wheelchair? Look no further. Highly recommended.

I don't read many autobiographies of famous people because in my opinion, they too often seem self-censored, either because the person writing it wants to preserve a certain image of themselves or because they can't trust the reader enough to make the "right" interpretation about their life. Speaking as a person who worked for the authors of "Gimp" to transcribe hours of interviews with family and friends of Mark Zupan, in addition to the subject himself, I felt compelled to write about the book because I feel it does something that is all too rare among autobiographies - it tells the truth.Mark Zupan isn't a household name, but thanks to the documentary "Murderball," he has become an inspiration to many. As a college freshman who miraculously survived a car accident that left him a quadriplegic, Zupan has gone on to become a star quad rugby player and has found incredible success on and off the court. Yet Zupan's story isn't your traditional feel good story with a few too many coats of gloss. It's told in a style that's both lyrical at times and intimate enough that you feel like a friend's telling you the story over a beer. A fan of both good music and good times, Zupan wouldn't have it any other wayBut "Gimp" also takes you through the hard times as Zupan recovers from the accident and is forced to deal with relationships that have changed in his life and adjust into adulthood. As the title indicates, Zupan has a sense of humor about his life so far and also isn't afraid of confrontation, whether it's his fearlessness in playing quad rugby or correcting misapprehensions about his condition.Although one cannot fully fathom what it feels like to be a quadriplegic even after reading "Gimp," Zupan's insights go a long way towards understanding that his story is not one about lamenting a life he could've had, but rather living one to the fullest because of certain realizations he's made. As a result, it's a book that actually earns the description "inspirational" and while I met Mark as I was working on "Gimp," I feel as though I really know him now. And I'm a better person for it.

Sometimes, people who have been "handicapped" in some manner end up withdrawing into themselves. A few of them are downright miserable. Mad at the world for being stuck in the situation they're in... the best they can hope for (because they're depressing to be around) is to have people feel sorry for them.

Mark Zupan (who, hopefully, you know from the astoundingly-good, and deserved-to-win-the-Oscar documentary, MURDERBALL), is NOT one of those people. He doesn't WANT anyone to feel sorry for him. (In fact, he doesn't even want to be seen as a "role model," or an "inspiration," though [sorry Mark!], to a lot of people, he is.)

Mark was an athletic, fun-loving 18-year-old, having a blast in South Florida when everything he knew changed in an instant. Sleeping off a night of heavy partying in the back of his buddy Chris Igoe's parked pickup, he had no clue when his friend got in and (also drunk) drove off. Not too long thereafter, Igoe swerved off the road and Mark ended up flying out of the truck-bed, over a fence, and into some dense foliage overhanging a small lake. (Igoe had no idea Mark was in the truck bed, so when the police came, they never looked for him.)

Mark regained consciousness, only to find himself unable to move (he didn't know it yet, but he was paralyzed from the neck down), hanging upside-down from a branch with his nose just inches from the water... and getting closer by the moment. He hung there for 14 hours, before a workman heard him yelling for help.

And that's just the START of the story!

In the years that followed, he has not only become one of the star players of the sport known as Quad Rugby (a.k.a. Murderball), his attitude about his "situation" (whether he likes it or not!) has helped untold numbers of others* to better cope with their own situations.


* I know of what I speak. My young and lovely wife has been in a wheelchair for several years due to Multiple Sclerosis. After seeing the movie MURDERBALL --and *especially* after meeting Zupan at a tournament, her attitude went from "good" to fantastic. She's no longer "the girl in the wheelchair." She's simply my wife, who's fun to be around, and who's interested in doing the things she CAN do, rather than fretting about the things she can't.

-Jonathan Sabin

Mark Zupan is a living illustration of the adage, "When life hands you a lemon - make lemonade." His lemon was being ejected from the bed of a friend's pickup truck, into which he had fallen asleep in a drunken stupor. Inch by inch, Zupan rebuilds his life - not the life he once had, but an active and rich life nonetheless.

His attitude is in your face and the book has some hilarious passages due to Zupan's "earthy" humor. A redemptive story of friendship, love, meaning through sports competition, true grit and a refusal to wallow in self-pity.

Read the book and then treat yourself to a viewing of "Murderball" while you're at it ...

As someone the same age as Mr. Zupan with a daughter in a wheelchair I was able to get motivation about her life, as well as my own from this book. This book will help anyone whose life took an unexpected turn. I recommend it or reference a story from it almost daily and I finished it a month ago.

This is a good read, well written and inspiring without being corny.
It even has some dark humour to lighten the mood.

Will strike a chord with any athlete or sportsman. Makes the reader feel lucky about his own circumstances, if he/she is fortunate enough to be ablebodied.

A fast paced, gritty look into an Athlete's brush with death and the long road to recovery. If you are looking for the next inspiration for a cheesy After School Special on overcoming adversity...don't read this book. If you are looking for a well written, insightful look into how one guy copes with tragedy and disability, then this is an excellent read. To say Gimp has texture is an understatement thanks to its subject, Mark Zupan, a quadriplegic athlete who was made famous by the documentary Murder Ball. Gimp details how this proud, perhaps arrogant athlete dealt with a tragic accident that cost him the full use of his limbs thanks to drunken night that resulted in a brush with death and a debilitating spinal cord injury.

Gimp does not spare us the details that are often left out of such stories including the uglier side of human emotion. The books subject faces Zupan's denial, doubt, guilt, fear, despair and loss as a result of his tragedy. While he ultimately comes to terms with his injury and recovery, it is not without some serious setbacks, some self inflicted. It is this part of writer Timothy Swanson's writing that really sets Gimp apart. He does not spare Zupan some hard looks into his darker nature to include arrogance, self indulgence and outright self destructiveness at times. If there is a villain in the book, it is Zupan himself and his own feelings of despair and anger. It is Swanson's description of Zupan's struggle with his own dark feelings and fears that give the story its power.

The book is not without its own sense of humor and offers a dark amusement that Zupan has for the hand life has dealt him. Gimp deftly shows Zupan's outlook on life which is headstrong and confident but not without his fair share of hidden frailty in the face of a near death experience. In fact, the description of the actual accident that describes Zupan clinging to life, literally perhaps, is the book's strongest section. I have many friends who suffer from war wounds, especially brain injuries from IED's or "danger close" air strikes and I can say from personal experience that Gimp does an excellent job at looking at how proud warriors (in Gimp's case a world class athlete), deal with injury and recovery. I recommend this book without reservation to certainly anyone who knows someone who suffers from a disability or who has seen the documentary Murder Ball. The book has broader appeal to fans of sports writing as well since the book leaves no doubt that Zupan is an athlete. The fact that it is an easy read and has a brisk pace is no small feat given that other works of this genre tend to drag on, lack direction and are often burdened with sappy and clichéd, touchy-feely housewife book club nonsense. Zupan's force of will as described by Swanson carries the book along as does the suspense of how he will cope with each stage of his recovery and his entrance into the world of quad rugby aka Murder Ball. I thought it was a great read and recommend it without reservation.

I just finished this book and was completely blown away from page one to the end. I am utterly speechless. I was very intrigued with quad rugby after seeing MURDERBALL and when I saw Mark Zupan's book in an airport, I knew I had to read this. His brutal honesty and ability to grasp life and hardship by the huevos is clearly demonstrated in his telling of how his entire life changed -- in many ways, as he describes, for the better -- following his accident. His tale is one that everyone should read!! A very highly recommended and fast book to read! If I ever have the chance to meet this guy, I'll definitely have to by a round (I just hope that I can keep up with him).