Laughing at My Nightmare
By Shane Burcaw
4/5
()
About this ebook
With acerbic wit and a hilarious voice, Shane Burcaw's Laughing at My Nightmare describes the challenges he faces as a twenty-one-year-old with spinal muscular atrophy. From awkward handshakes to having a girlfriend and everything in between, Shane handles his situation with humor and a "you-only-live-once" perspective on life. While he does talk about everyday issues that are relatable to teens, he also offers an eye-opening perspective on what it is like to have a life threatening disease.
Shane Burcaw
Shane Burcaw is a twenty-something young adult with Spinal Muscular Atrophy and a wicked sense of humor. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he runs a blog and nonprofit organization dedicated to providing medical equipment to people with muscular dystrophy diseases. He and his girlfriend are the duo behind Squirmy and Grubs, a YouTube channel that offers a behind the scenes look at their interabled relationship.
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Reviews for Laughing at My Nightmare
91 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Snarky, hilarious, painfully honest. Shane shows us with undeniable force that people are not their disability. I laughed and I cried.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Humor suited for the more mature teen, this is the story of a young man born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy who lives life to the fullest. His autobiography about his life is based on the perspective of laughing instead of crying and sharing his story to encourage others. Warning- Raw in emotion, it is rather blunt in language and description of how daily bodily care is managed and typical adolescent male behavior handled. He starts a blog and is amazed at how it takes off, leading to a multi- state tour of speaking engagements. This is a positive book about living life to its fullest. Good for upper high school or emerging adults (or adults).
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Shane Burcaw has a tremendous talent of speaking from the heart. Even when crude in language Shane impresses upon the reader to see life for what it is and take each step one at a time. Shane's ability to bust the reader's ribs with laughter knows no equal. I look forward to reader more of this author's future endeavors.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Interesting memoir by a young guy with spinal muscular atrophy. He was born with the disability, but it’s gotten worse over time so he’s had to adapt as he gets older. This is a great book to show young adults that people with disabilities are just like us - Shane has a great sense of humor, he gets nervous around girls, and really wants to make friends. The medical aspects of his condition aren’t touched on too much here - it’s more about his overall childhood, daily life, and work with his nonprofit.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book is by the author of a popular blog with the same name. This is a memoir of his life from childhood to about age 20 or so. The author has spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), which requires accommodation for many everyday tasks, as he explains in detail in the book. Unlike his more recent book, Strangers Think My Girlfriend Is My Nurse (which I actually read prior to this one), Burcaw follows a more traditional chronological trajectory as opposed to a more episodic one. In that way, you see him both grow up and also see his disease take its worsening hold on his body. However, Burcaw often makes a point about saying how his disability does not define him and that he enjoys the same kinds of things as other typical 20-something men. I don't know why, but for some reason this book didn't hit me the same way his other two did. Perhaps age and growth as a writer made the other two more compelling, or perhaps it's because this book didn't really tell me much more new about Burcaw but rather seemed to tread the same water. That's not to say I disliked this book; it's just that I preferred his other two more and would recommend them over this one to other readers.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Very inspirational tale! Shane Burcaw has SMA (spinal muscular atrophy) but that doesn't seem to have stopped him a day in his 23-yr. old life. His muscles are slowly deteriorating and he has always been in a wheelchair, but he has managed to make the most of this difficult situation with humor, his tagline, but also with grace. He has a college degree, a nonprofit foundation, a blog, a girlfriend and and an awesome family. Through this memoir, he recounts various tales of his struggles to lead a normal life with frank honesty (lots of bodily function info!) and an impressive detachment that helps him cope with his inherent dependency on others. He also does a really good job of raising awareness of how our culture at large perceives "disability" and the limited programs and accessibility he has encountered in life with his wheelchair. Especially heartwarming is his relationship with his younger brother Andrew -- typical sibling attitude and arguing, but a much deeper bond since Andrew has to literally get him out of bed, dress him and help him use the bathroom among many other potentially embarrassing scenarios. But there is no pity -- sometimes not even kindness! and Shane dishes it right back. Amazing example of resiliency -- would recommend it unconditionally for teens if it weren't for the detailed description of his first sexual encounter.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5aughing at My Nightmare by Shane BurcawA memoir about Shane Burcaw, a young man living with SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy). Told with eye opening honesty, humor and laugh out loud moments. Informative insightful dialog had me hooked from page one. Shane Burcaw tells his story in a delightful way, with laughter, hope and encouragement his focus, along with the many challenges and downfalls of this rare disease.I highly recommend Laughing at My Nightmare to Y/A as well as Adult Readers. I look forward to reading his other two books Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask About Having a Disability and Strangers Assume My Girlfriend Is My Nurse.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book was a hoot and a very quick read! I was laughing on page 1.Burcaw's voice is genuine and familiar - his stories read like conversations with a friend - and this is NOT one of those tragic must-overcome-my-terrible-life memoirs. Young readers will be attracted to his ease, wit, and openness (yes, toileting and intimacy are covered), yet it is Burcaw's humanity, positivity and striving for normalcy that are relateable to readers of all ages.Highly recommended for readers ages 14+, and an asset to school library collections.YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Fro Young Adults Finalist
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5It was ok but I didn’t like Shane. He seemed very selfish to me. He was extremely scared of dying or being left alone and trapped in bed or being at school and not having a person to help him. That is understandable but if other people were so vital to him you’d think he would talk about them more. He just didn’t seem to really appreciate them very much. The only people he really talked about a lot and how much he cared for them was his girlfriends. which kinda seemed a lil shallow since the stuff he liked the most was how they made him feel. Also he seemed like a lil bratty know it all. “Oo I’m so much smarter and social than these wheelchair kids.” And he wasn’t that funny to me.