The Flipside

The Flipside

by Adam J. Jackson

Headline, HK$169

Crooner Julio Iglesias was on his way to becoming a Real Madrid goalkeeper when a car accident curtailed his football career. Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer only a few years before he won the Tour de France for the first time. Colonel (Harland) Sanders couldn't face retiring on US$105 social security cheques so he turned his special chicken recipe into a worldwide phenomenon with Kentucky Fried Chicken. Adam J. Jackson presents nuggets of inspiration aimed at drawing out the optimist in every reader. The author writes about his own problems to show he is qualified to motivate: during his childhood Jackson was acutely embarrassed about his psoriasis, he writes, but he went on to develop a non-steroid treatment for the skin disorder. The Flipside is his attempt to show obstacles can also bring opportunities. The torrent of from-adversity-to-success stories may cause some readers to give self-pity the flick. There is also the possibility the one-dimensional stories will deepen the depression. Reading positive case study after case study may make you feel worse if you haven't been able to shimmy out of that deep, slippery hole.