Book Review - Always Losing Something by Max Green

 

It is the year twenty-thirty, and New Zealand-born sixty-one-year-old Max is on a private plane travelling from London City Airport to JFK Airport. Max has an appointment to see his neurosurgeon at Columbia University Medical Centre. He has had regular appointments here since his Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) diagnosis thirteen years earlier. In twenty thirty Robot Operated Suits (ROS) have been invented. Max has a personal assistant who straps him into his ROS every morning, and Max's thought waves control it via brain implants. In this way, Max is still able to walk and even jog. Always Losing Something is not just about Max's illness. We learn about his football career, wild nights out, and family and friends. What else does the ROS do to help Max? What is the gene therapy trial, and is it something Max can take part in? What nightmare situation did Max find himself in during the Covid-19 pandemic? Furthermore, how does Max lose a leg? Read Always Losing Something by Max Green to discover the answers to these and other questions.

ALS is a terrible illness that gradually stops every body part from working while the brain is untouched. Having looked after my Dad, who had ALS, I know how dreadful this disease is, and I admire all the humor Max Green has put into Always Losing Something. What could have been a depressing read was very upbeat and funny while teaching the reader about ALS and how it affects Max. For example, on page twenty, Max reads a billboard with the words fast, fast, fast on it. As soon as Max thinks these words, the ROS takes him off on a fast jog through windows, tables, and anything else in his way until his assistant can rugby tackle him and press the reset button on the suit.

 

I enjoyed this book which is well written and very engaging, but I did dislike chapter two, which tells the story of Max's footballing career. Max was a footballer scouted by Bournemouth Football Club in his youth. Although I agree it was necessary to explain how vital football had been in Max's life, I did not enjoy the blow-by-blow accounts of the football matches he had played in. This became very boring.

I want to give Always Losing Something by Max Green 5 out of 5 stars. It is an informative read told with humor. ALS is a rare disease that mainly affects the nerve cells which are responsible for controlling voluntary muscle movements like chewing, walking, and talking. As well as having the disease, Max Green clearly understands the science of how the body is affected, and he puts this across very clearly in terms I understood. There are several grammatical errors, but they did not spoil the book's flow, and no stars should be taken off.

I recommend Always Losing Something to adults who enjoy factually correct novels. It would particularly interest people who have been diagnosed with the disease or know someone who has it. There is swearing in the book but nothing sexual. However, a quote from page forty-six tells us that at this time, 'No one has ever recovered from or been cured of ALS,' so this is not a read I would recommend to the faint-hearted! Max Green was given a death sentence when diagnosed with ALS, but he writes Always Losing Something with humility, bravery, and lots of humor. There is no sign of self-pity, and he deals with every knock-back with great courage.

I want to thank Max Green for a copy of Always Losing Something: A novel of hope, heartbreak, and soaring optimism in exchange for my honest and impartial review. You can see more of my reviews here http://onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-tara-d-morgan.html