Ticked: A Medical Miracle, a Friendship, and the Weird World of Tourette Syndrome
In this heart-wrenching and heartwarming story, two men with Tourette syndrome explain what it’s like to live with a misfiring of signals in the brain that causes tics. And no, neither of them yells curse words. Fussell, a writer at the Kansas City Star, shakes his head a lot. Matovic’s sharp, repetitive, involuntary muscle spasms were so severe he had a surgeon bore holes in his head. It basically worked, and he told his story on Oprah. Fussell learned about Matovic from Oprah herself when he interviewed her. He and Matovic hit it off, and they make a good team in this engaging, well-written book about growing up different and the symptoms of ­Tourette’s, including the trouble staying still that Fussell and Matovic used to their advantage to excel at sports. The book is hopeful (both men are happily married fathers) and funny (at a ­Tourette’s gathering, Fussell doesn’t know how to handle a woman whose tic is undressing strangers, including him). With a foreword by comedian Jeff Foxworthy, this has wide appeal. --Karen Springen