THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 9, 1995 TAG: 9507060460
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: BY BRITT RENO
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
IN LOVE WITH DAYLIGHT
A Memoir of Recovery
WILFRED SHEED
Simon & Schuster. 252 pp. $23.
WILFRED SHEED has had his ups and downs. As an accomplished novelist, he's had his share of good fortune, and as a survivor of polio, a reformed alcoholic and pill addict, and a combatant of cancer, he's had more than his share of struggles. Out of this bittersweet life comes In Love With Daylight: A Memoir of Recovery, Sheed's life-affirming spiritual autobiography.
According to Sheed, ``Sickness is as good as a grant from an arts council.'' His showdowns against three formidable diseases have inspired a witty and insightful look at life, death and recovery.
Sheed is a gifted writer, able to capture the nuances of illness and addiction and infuse them with energy and humor. In Love With Daylight is filled with homespun bits of wisdom and clever metaphors. Sheed uses the metaphor of daylight to symbolize health and recovery.
When Sheed was 14, he was stricken with polio and had an unusual response. Rather than caving in to the affliction, he saw it as a challenge, and it made him stronger. ``I wasn't a polio victim, but a polio fighter, and a damn good one,'' he writes.
He lost the use of ``one and two-thirds'' of his legs and was forced to rely on crutches, but he gained the courage of recovery and the ability to look beyond illness.
Adulthood brought new pressures. After years of drinking and sleeping-pill abuse, Sheed hit a brick wall. Facing up to his addictions, he checked himself into ``Happy Valley'' - an Alcoholics Anonymous affiliate - to dry out. But he found their talk ``airy-fairy'' and their ``one disease fits all'' approach to sobriety insulting. Despite his differences, he was able to triumph over his addiction, drawing heavily on lessons learned from his bout with polio.
Like an overzealous boxer striking after the bell has rung, cancer broadsided Sheed with a sucker punch. But he has the pluck, stamina and optimism of a man who has already cheated death twice. In the face of losing his tongue to cancer, Sheed shows great courage and levity. ``Cancer is a nuisance - a deadly nuisance, but that's all.'' In the end, ``abstract terror (gives) way to delight in just being alive.''
Such spirit prevents this book about affliction and addiction from being a downer. Sheed's approach to life is uncommon and refreshing. ``No one's life seems tragic from the inside,'' he writes. And after spending time inside his head, you'll agree. His optimism is contagious, his words are wise and comforting. Illness allows you to ```(find) out for probably the first time what's been in you all along.'' A healing perspective for all, healthy or ailing. MEMO: Britt Reno is a photographer and writer who lives part time on the Outer
Banks. by CNB