Bounce Forward
21 Tools to Live a Life Beyond Limits
About creating purpose, transforming one’s pain into hope for others, and recognizing that everyone’s contributions matter, Bounce Forward is an inspiring memoir.
Accomplished athlete Amy Purdy’s inspiring memoir and self-help book Bounce Forward is about persevering through adversity, surmounting setbacks, and finding fulfillment.
When she was nineteen years old, Purdy lost both legs below the knee to bacterial meningitis. Thereafter, she rebuilt her life piece by piece. A snowboarder, she won three medals at the Paralympics. She also made media appearances with Oprah Winfrey and on Dancing with the Stars. Here, she shares twenty-one tips for surviving, healing, and fostering personal growth, derived from her own rise from grief to hope and helplessness to empowerment.
Each chapter covers a different shift in Purdy’s viewpoint, including from resisting change to thriving in it, being stuck and stagnant to creating momentum, and going from uninspired to inspired. While building toward a bigger worldview of personal transformation, each chapter drills into its particular subject with single-mindedness, discussing what is was like for Purdy to discover her deeper sense of purpose, surrender control, and build confidence through courage. The approach is somewhat formulaic, though: Chapters open with personal stories, identify techniques that Purdy learned, and outline steps for applying those tools in life.
Purdy’s stories are compelling. She discusses another leg injury decades after her first; doctors told her it would keep her from walking to her mailbox. She discusses finding the strength to move on and dealing with anxiety and insecurities too. Her encouragements to advocate for one’s own health are persuasive, as is her modeling of handling ongoing setbacks and instances of self-doubt.
Dramatic pronouncements (Purdy asks “why me” following her second injury; she discusses the surreality of “going home after your entire life has been flipped upside down”) color the prose, which has an easygoing quality. Its sentences are short and enlivened by palpable details related to conditions like depression, panic attacks, and self-pity following surgery. Also evocative are references to Purdy’s “carbon fiber and titanium legs with three-inch heels and a stunning designer dress” and Michelin-evoking home meals prepared during her convalescence.
On the whole, the book does an able job of illustrating how every breakdown can become a breakthrough. It models how adversity can make people stronger and the art of turning pain into purpose. Its practical tools for personal empowerment are rousing.
An uplifting self-help book, Bounce Forward recalls the grit and determination that took an athlete from an incredible loss to Olympic successes.
Reviewed by
Joseph S. Pete
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
