FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT

In this memoir, Dorn recounts life struggles he’s overcome—and others, like multiple sclerosis, that he continues to fight.

The author was born in Texas, the youngest of six children. The siblings were fathered by four different men; Dorn was the son of a preacher and gospel singer he rarely saw. He got into trouble as a boy, stealing bikes (and later cars) and smoking cannabis and drinking. But he had positive influences, like his mother and his Aunt Nina, who taught him the value of treating others well. After serving in the Army throughout the 1990s while stationed in Germany, the author found life to be an unpredictable series of ups and downs back in the United States. He eventually moved west to Arizona for his job with an electronics company and met his future wife, Karima, who later gave birth to their son, Liam. He was also diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a disease that made it increasingly harder to stand up and made “menial tasks,” such as walking, a challenge. Dorn, who wrote this memoir with his son as his intended audience, provides illuminating glimpses into his life: Nearly half of the text focuses on his pre-diagnosis early childhood and Army days, which prove just as absorbing as his accounts of the unexpected obstacles that come with MS (such as searching for the right physical therapist). Much of the material, however, feels like abbreviated bits and pieces of Dorn’s experiences, as he pares down passages with phrases like “Long story short” or “that’s another story”; he was heartbroken when his fiancée broke off an engagement, which he only mentions in passing, and he merely implies that his relationship with his best friend changed drastically after his diagnosis. Still, the book is quite moving when the infectiously positive author shares his unconditional love of family: “Grannie’s house was the center of my universe. To this day, I have her address and phone number memorized.”

An inspiring true story of confronting a disease with patience and tenacity.