What I Learned When I Almost Died [Kindle Edition]

Chris Licht (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

What do you learn when your brain goes pop?

Chris Licht had always been ambitious. When he was only nine years old, he tracked down an NBC correspondent while on vacation to solicit advice for a career in television. At eleven, he began filming himself as he delivered the news. And by the time he was thirty-five, he landed his dream job: a fast-paced, demanding spot at the helm of MSNBC’s Morning Joe—one of the most popular shows on cable TV. He had become a real-life Jerry Maguire: hard-charging, obsessively competitive, and willing to sacrifice anything to get it done. He felt invincible. Then one day Chris heard a pop in his head, followed by a whoosh of blood and crippling pain. Doctors at the ER said he had suffered a near-deadly brain hemorrhage. Chris’s life had almost been cut short, and he had eight long days in a hospital bed to think about it.

What I Learned When I Almost Died tells the story of what happened next.

About the Author

Chris Licht is the co-creator and original executive producer of Morning Joe—the popular daily morning show on MSNBC hosted by Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, and Willie Geist. Before Morning Joe, Licht worked as executive producer on Scarborough Country. He lives in Manhattan with his wife Jenny and their two sons.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 2009 KB
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (May 24, 2011)
• Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004A90BR4
• Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,419 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #99 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Medical

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "A VERY SHORT STORY FROM THE EYES OF THE PRIVILEGED FEW", May 27, 2011

By 

Rick Shaq Goldstein "*SHAQ*" (Danville, Ca, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: What I Learned When I Almost Died: How a Maniac TV Producer Put Down His BlackBerry and Started to Live His Life (Hardcover)

All book reviews are always subjective, and even though an event that brings the fear of death or disability into the life of any human being, whether a homeless person or a young man living a charmed life in the public's eye as an executive producer for a national TV show is poignant... the review... for the benefit of potential readers should never be sugar coated. I have written over five hundred Amazon reviews and I normally adhere to one of the guidelines regarding not commenting on other people's reviews, but in this case, I feel I need to for the benefit of potential readers... and that's the one other early "lonely" reviewer who commented on the author's "name dropping and ego"... because that is the exact impression I was left with. I might also add that I am a grateful, blessed, *BRAIN-TUMOR-SURVIVOR* who in addition to the fear of dying or being disabled by the brain tumor itself... almost died from unforeseen complications during the surgery which involved bleeding in the brain during the tumor removal.

This is an extremely, extremely, short book with 5" x 7" pages and only 165 of those, and most of those pages are filled with name droppings that ranged from Joe Scarborough to Vice President Joe Biden to Jeff Zucker, President and CEO of NBC Universal. In fact Biden used his "influence" to get his preferred Doctor assigned to Licht. The average reader, especially, anyone who has personally gone through medical traumas such as his brain hemorrhage or much, much worse... will not be impressed with all the cars and limos that are made available at no charge of course to Licht. Additionally the author (in my opinion) never fully details the horror of ordeals such as MRI's which to most people are just words... until you're locked inside one. Also, strangely lackluster are the "goodbyes" and hopes and wishes that are shared and expressed with loved ones when you don't know if tonight is your last night... and if perchance you make it through to the next day... if you'll even be able to communicate with your loved ones... or be a mind locked within a body. That was my biggest fear.

In summary, if a potential reader is simply looking for a pampered, elite, person, who faced a health problem, this fits the bill. If you or someone you love is going through... about to go through... or has been through... or facing the prospects... of something that is life threatening and unknown... such as brain tumor surgery or related items... there are hundreds of books out there better suited for such a reality.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The best part of this book is the title, August 3, 2011

By 

Lucerne07 (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What I Learned When I Almost Died: How a Maniac TV Producer Put Down His BlackBerry and Started to Live His Life (Hardcover)

For the first few chapters of this book, it seemed that the author was setting up what a self-involved, name dropping, arrogant person he was so that later on he could reveal his enormous changes. By the end of the book the only major change is that instead of eviscerating his co-workers or taxi drivers to their faces, he passive-aggressively lays out his litany of complaints in a book published by Simon and Schuster. Congrats? To his own admission, even his own family was disappointed that his life-altering incident didn't prove to be more life altering. While this event could produce an interesting and inspiring story in the hands of the right person, don't expect to find it in this book.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Story from a great storyteller, May 26, 2011

By 

Dixon - See all my reviews

This review is from: What I Learned When I Almost Died: How a Maniac TV Producer Put Down His BlackBerry and Started to Live His Life (Hardcover)

A fascinating story of how one's life can turn on a dime; and what one can do and learn when it does. Thought-provoking and thoughtful, by turns scary, tender, funny and smart, "What I Learned...." is a must-read for anyone who needs to reset their priorities or redouble their efforts to really LIVE RIGHT NOW (and don't we all?!?)