Model Patient: My Life As An Incurable Wise-Ass [Hardcover]

Karen Duffy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 3, 2000

In 1995, Karen Duffy was sitting on top of world and loving it. She had it all. After first finding success as a saucy MTV VJ, she soon became a spokesmodel for Revlon's "Charlie Girl". And it wasn't long before she began an acting career by appearing in Dumb and Dumber, Reality Bites, and several Woody Allen films, and then became a correspondent on Michael Moore's irreverent Emmy Award-winning TV Nation.

Duffy's whirlwind life of celebrity came to an unexpected, grinding halt. She was struck, with a rare, incurable disease -- sarcoidosis of the central nervous system -- which left her partially paralyzed, in tremendous pain, and, at times, near death. Confronted with her mortality, Duffy realized that even though she had a serious illness, she didn't have to take it seriously.

Model Patient is an inspiring and hilarious memoir about how Karen Duffy discovered that disease may have changed her body, but it didn't have to change her. With humor, Duffy learned to embrace the chaos of a life-threatening illness that allowed her to triumph over a death sentence. With her indomitable joie de vivre, she even discovered the love of her life at a time when life couldn't have been any worse.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Maybe the world needs more wise-assery. Judging by Duffy's exemplary case of the quality, it definitely does. The MTV VJ-turned-model was in her thirties when she attended the Emmy Awards with George Clooney despite a nasty headache that had grown increasingly worse. After progressive numbness made normal motions impossible, she flew to a New York doctor for help. The diagnosis was sarcoidosis, which causes soft body parts to develop hard, grainy spots that impair the functioning of whatever organ they strike. Duffy maintained a sassy, genuinely upbeat attitude that many of the less afflicted might emulate. When restricted to bed and apartment and too weak to cook, she ordered take-out, donned a ball gown, and invited friends over for company. When large doses of steroids restored mobility, they also created irritability, insatiable appetite, and facial hair, and dates expecting a lovely model instead encountered an irate, tubby woman with a beard. If laughter is the best medicine, Duffy shows that laughing at debility is better yet. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Karen Duffy continues to model for Revlon, tour the country as a women's health advocate, and report for Michael Moore's new show, The Awful Truth. She lives with her husband in New York City. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (October 3, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060197250
• ISBN-13: 978-0060197254
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,746,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Patient" Is A Virtue!, October 17, 2000

By 

Eden Pell (New Rochelle, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Model Patient: My Life As An Incurable Wise-Ass (Hardcover)

Ok, I admit it.

I was looking for some real escapist reading and figured that a book by Karen Duffy called "Model Patient" would fit the bill. I expected a slap-dash tell all with a big dose "oh-feel-sorry-for-me-because-I-have-the-disease-of-the-week."

Was I wrong.

I found the book totally engrossing and found that I had had a completely skewed idea of what kind of person Duffy is. She turns out not only to be whipcrack smart but also completely down to earth about having had a major fling with minor stardom. She seems as surprised and bemused by it all as you would be if you suddenly found yourself inside your TV looking out, a refreshing perspective.

She also has a surprisingly healthy relationship with the disease that almost killed her. Rather than feeling crushed by it or (gag) made somehow noble by it, she seems to treat it like the bully up the block who may not be going away but is not going to be permitted to stand in the way of a good time. I have to admit that her grit made me feel whiny about my (relatively) petty complaints.

Having undergone a recent hospitalization, I was pleasantly surprised that there were some genuinely useful tips and sidebars about surviving the cure as well as the disease.

And, yes, Duffy throws in enough juicy celeb gossip to easily justify the price of the book. I usually like my dish a little more salty and tart than this but there are more actual insights offered here than in your average unauthorized biography.

In the end, Karen Duffy, as she comes across in this book, is just great company. I have already given away several copies to friends and family members going through, shall we say, unplanned life-altering experiences but I would recommend this to anyone who likes a brisk, eye-opening read that let's you walk in someone else's (Prada) shoes and realize that the fantasy life is the one you are already living.

Eden Pell

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thanks, Duff!, October 11, 2000

By 

Nancy Ross (Charlotte, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Model Patient: My Life As An Incurable Wise-Ass (Hardcover)

My best friend has severe symptoms of Sarcoidosis and just sent me Karen Duffy's book. I didn't know much about Duff until I began reading her hilarious and horrendous stories of suffering with this mysterious disease.

Duff is doing a world of good by putting a face and a name to Sarcoidosis and pushing for a cure. And she's giving Sarcoidosis patients--and anyone who's ever thought THEY had problems--a reason to laugh in the face of adversity!

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Model Patient, October 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Model Patient: My Life As An Incurable Wise-Ass (Hardcover)

I picked up Model Patient as a big Duff fan, but thinking it might be another illness-porn sellout. Not a chance. Karen Duffy's personal brand of tough-as-nails goofiness is, in fact, a great update on the idea of grace under pressure. When I stopped laughing--which took a while--I realized that Duff's approach to the illness she recounts in this book was an act of courage and imagination. Model Patient, in its no-nonsense love of life, has more to offer those in similar situations than any number of smarmy "inspirational" books. It's also a hilarious unvarnished account of celebrity circles and a truly moving love story. Duff serves up the real thing--with a welcome side of twisted humor.