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GIMP

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

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Mark Zupan was a college soccer star, out drinking one night with friends. Tired from the game and from a few too many beers, he decided to take a nap in the back of his best friend's pickup truck. Still asleep when the pickup started and drove away, he was suddenly jolted awake when the truck crashed. Mark was thrown into a canal and stuck for fourteen hours. When he was finally rescued, Mark discovered the terrible truth—he'd broken his neck and was likely a quadriplegic, facing life in a wheelchair and only limited use of all four limbs.

At first Mark's only goal was to walk again, and when that proved impossible he fell into a terrible despair, furious with himself and increasingly bitter. But through love, friendship, and an introduction to a new sport, Mark has gone on to create an existence that's truly exceptional. Now a Paralymic athlete (playing Quad Rubgy, aka ""murderball""), Mark's memoir explains that in a way getting hurt was the best thing that ever could have happened to him. Inspiring, defiant, and revealing, GIMP will appeal not only to fans of Murderball, but also to anyone ready to be motivated by a story about triumphing over the odds.

Read by Mark Zupan

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    • AudioFile Magazine
      Mark Zupan says that becoming a quadriplegic helped him get his life together. Here, with engaging frankness, he tells listeners about the accident that put him in a wheelchair and about the changes in his life afterward. A celebrity from his appearance in the movie MURDERBALL, the quadriplegic rugby star has a voice that conveys his toughness and determination without being hard-edged. Some of his blunt discussion might be discomforting as he talks about romance and rehab, but it helps to put listeners into his mind. While Zupan acknowledges his feelings of despair and loss as he went through rehab, his reading overall is optimistic and upbeat. J.A.S. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 1, 2006
      "I hate being called handicapped," says Zupan, whose competitiveness at quadriplegic rugby brought him national attention as one of the stars of the Oscar-nominated documentary Murderball. A passionate athlete before breaking his neck in an automobile accident when he was 18 years old, Zupan, now 31, is determined to play just as hard as ever from a wheelchair. But with his team's performance in the 2002 Paralympics already covered in the documentary, the sport that made him famous is relegated to a comparatively small portion of this memoir. Instead, Zupan focuses on the slow recovery process after his accident. Refusing to gloss his story, he speaks frankly and humorously about subjects like "quad sex." While watching the best friend who caused the accident tear himself apart with guilt, he describes how his own bottled-up frustrations impeded his recovery, leading him to stalk his ex-girlfriend and, years later, to be convicted on a drunk driving charge. As in the film, Zupan makes an unforgettable impression with his raw, brash energy.

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  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

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