Plot Synopsis: In the summer of 2013, Mystery Writer and Radio Personality Chuck Collins was diagnosed with a deadly form of brain cancer. This is the story of how he and a special community of professionals, friends and family made the best of a very bad situation. Portions of proceeds (60%) will go to aid families dealing with brain health issues. Go to RobbingMind.com for more information.

Author: Chuck Collins

Genre: True Story

Length: 132 Pages

Publisher: Studio D Books; i edition (November 26, 2013)

Review: by Lee

Having read "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch and watched his actual last lecture, I find stories about brave individuals fighting dire diagnoses with positivity very interesting and compelling, so I was rather excited to read RoBBing Mind: How Attitude and Intention Helped Prevent a Fate Worse Than Death.

What I Liked:

It takes a lot of courage to even endure something like cancer, and maintaining a positive attitude seems nearly impossible.  Chuck Collins, however, accomplished that and braved the world with his story.

The fact that some of the proceeds are being donated to families that are dealing with brain health issues is also very admirable.  

However, If I’m being honest, there wasn’t much I liked about the book itself.  I really wanted to like it, but there wasn’t much for me to enjoy.  I expected the story of the author’s sickness and triumph, but it was so mangled in its execution that I had to force myself to finish.

What I Didn’t Like:

The book was largely incoherent for several reasons.  One of them, the rampant errors that were not caught by an editor, might have been caused by the fact that it was an e-book, but that is not a good excuse.  I mean, how could they not have caught the fact that the entire first chapter gets repeated?  It actually became frustrating to see all of the missing punctuation, spelling errors, and word choice mistakes.

Apart from the numerous technical errors, the story was jumbled.  It didn’t seem to have a unified structure at all.  There were just a bunch of random stories about friends and family members who faced struggles and failed, but never an actual explanation about how the author’s attitude prevented a fate worse than death.  The title itself is just plain misleading because the author, at the end of the book, still faces the possibility of succumbing to the cancer.

Also, there was a lot of condemnation of people who “give up” when they are diagnosed as terminal patients, and those moments felt very self-congratulatory.  Nobody wants to read a book where someone just keeps patting himself on the back for being such a good sport, especially at the expense of others.

At this point, I want to point out that I sympathize with the author, and criticizing this book makes me feel really bad; however, I feel that I must be honest.  What made the whole thing worse was considering whether the errors were caused by his condition.  Apparently the author has written a few fiction novels, and I couldn’t help wondering if I should read one of them to see whether he was just a poor writer or getting really sick.

You can purchase this book at Amazon and at Smashwords

Author Bio:

Chuck Collins is a 40-year veteran of broadcasting and media in Northeast Ohio, most recently in Akron, Ohio. He is currently operations director with Rubber City Radio Group, WAKR, WQMX, WONE, and has been on the WAKR air 10-3pm weekdays for the last 7 years.

Chuck has written four novels and published hundreds of essays for online and other publications. He has supported the performing arts with leadership roles in the Greater Akron Musical Association and continues to work with alcoholics and recovery services as a trustee with IBH, Addiction Recovery Center.

Chuck and his wife Monika are devoted to family and community and live in Hudson, Ohio.

Author Links:  Website | Facebook | Goodreads

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