Tuesday, May 14, 2013

The World's Strongest Librarian: A Memoir Of Tourette's, Faith, Strength, And The Power Of Family
by Josh Hanagarne

At the age of four, Josh Hanagarne started twitching and was not conscious of it. His parents certainly were, though. As he got older, the tics increased and manifested themselves in all different, annoying ways. Josh tried everything to help deal with these symptoms but nothing really worked. It wasn't until he took up weight lifting that he was able to somewhat push the tics into a corner for longer periods of time.
The first two thirds of the book is pretty interesting. Josh writes about his parents, his childhood growing up Mormon. finally getting a diagnosis of Tourette Syndrome and learning what to do about it, becoming a librarian at the Salt Lake City Public Library. When it came to his keen interest in strength training, the book came to a screeching halt. It's very boring and the worst part is when Josh meets up with a bizaare former Air Force Tech Sargeant who served in Iraq. This guy helps him overcome the tics but the conversation between them is ridiculous and hard to comprehend. At times, Josh doesn't know what this guy is talking about. (Trust me; you won't either.) Obviously, the book needed filler but this last part is a real turn-off.
Josh's writing is pretty good and funny especially when he talks about the eccentrics who come to the library.
The book is okay but not great.