
Was It Spectacular?
A Memoir
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Claire Simon
-
By:
-
Anne B. Thomas
About this listen
Half a world away from home in 1976, 18-year old Anne B. Thomas awakens on the side of a two-lane road paralyzed from the chest down. Fast forward through a rigorous year of physical therapy to when her doctor gives her an ominous warning: “You will live a long time and be a burden on your family for the rest of your life unless you check yourself into a nursing home”.
Anne spends the rest of her life proving that doctor wrong.
This brutally honest memoir follows Anne’s journey as a young woman learning to navigate an inaccessible world to developing a fierce sense of self-worth to becoming a tireless advocate for others. An award-winning storyteller, Anne wrote this memoir to share her adventures, heartbreaks, and triumphs in a life well-lived - one that was spectacular.
©2020 Allison Yabroff (P)2021 Allison YabroffListeners also enjoyed...
-
Swim
- By: Eric C. Wat
- Narrated by: Feodor Chin
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carson Chow is a high functioning addict. For years, he's been able to meet the increasing demands from his aging immigrant parents while hiding his crystal meth use every other weekend. One Friday night, as he's passed out from a drug binge, he misses 38 phone calls from his father, detailing first the collapse and eventually the death of his mother. Carson has always been close to his mother. He throws himself into the preparation of his mother's funeral. Will this tragedy plunge him deeper into his abuse or finally rouse him from his addiction stupor?
-
-
Dreadfully long
- By halo on 02-10-21
By: Eric C. Wat
-
Between Two Kingdoms
- A Memoir of a Life Interrupted
- By: Suleika Jaouad
- Narrated by: Suleika Jaouad
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer after graduating from college, Suleika Jaouad was preparing, as they say in commencement speeches, to enter “the real world”. She had fallen in love and moved to Paris to pursue her dream of becoming a war correspondent. The real world she found, however, would take her into a very different kind of conflict zone. It started with an itch - first on her feet, then up her legs, like a thousand invisible mosquito bites. Then a trip to the doctor and, a few weeks shy of her 23rd birthday, a diagnosis: leukemia, with a 35 percent chance of survival.
-
-
This was painful.
- By Meredith Nutrition on 07-31-22
By: Suleika Jaouad
-
No Time Like the Future
- An Optimist Considers Mortality
- By: Michael J. Fox
- Narrated by: Michael J. Fox
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The entire world knows Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, the teenage sidekick of Doc Brown in Back to the Future; as Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties; as Mike Flaherty in Spin City; and through numerous other movie roles and guest appearances on shows such as The Good Wife and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Diagnosed at age 29, Michael is equally engaged in Parkinson’s advocacy work, raising global awareness of the disease and helping find a cure through The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, the world's leading nonprofit funder of PD science.
-
-
Thankful
- By Michelle J Swanson on 11-18-20
By: Michael J. Fox
-
On My Own Two Feet
- From Losing My Legs to Learning the Dance of Life
- By: Amy Purdy, Michelle Burford
- Narrated by: Amy Purdy, Jorjeana Marie
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this poignant and uplifting memoir, Dancing with the Stars sensation Amy Purdy reveals the story of how losing her legs led her to find a spiritual path. When the Las Vegas native was just nineteen, she came down with bacterial meningitis and was given less than a two percent chance of survival. In a near-death experience, she saw three figures who told her: “You can come with us, or you can stay. No matter what happens in your life, it's all going to make sense in the end." In that moment, Amy chose to live.
-
-
A Powerful Memoir of Truimph over Tragedy
- By ElizOF on 01-31-22
By: Amy Purdy, and others
-
A Place Called Home
- A Memoir
- By: David Ambroz
- Narrated by: David Ambroz
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There are millions of homeless children in America today and in A Place Called Home, award-winning child welfare advocate David Ambroz writes about growing up homeless in New York for eleven years and his subsequent years in foster care, offering a window into what so many kids living in poverty experience every day.
-
-
Very heart wrenching read, BUT
- By Everest Mom on 01-14-23
By: David Ambroz
-
The Hard Parts
- A Memoir of Courage and Triumph
- By: Oksana Masters, Cassidy Randall - contributor
- Narrated by: Emily Tremaine, Oksana Masters
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Oksana Masters was born in Ukraine—in the shadow of Chernobyl—seemingly with the odds stacked against her. She came into the world with one kidney, a partial stomach, six toes on each foot, webbed fingers, no right bicep, and no thumbs. Her left leg was six inches shorter than her right, and she was missing both tibias.
-
-
Strength is Oksana Masters
- By Trina Bull on 02-01-25
By: Oksana Masters, and others
-
Swim
- By: Eric C. Wat
- Narrated by: Feodor Chin
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carson Chow is a high functioning addict. For years, he's been able to meet the increasing demands from his aging immigrant parents while hiding his crystal meth use every other weekend. One Friday night, as he's passed out from a drug binge, he misses 38 phone calls from his father, detailing first the collapse and eventually the death of his mother. Carson has always been close to his mother. He throws himself into the preparation of his mother's funeral. Will this tragedy plunge him deeper into his abuse or finally rouse him from his addiction stupor?
-
-
Dreadfully long
- By halo on 02-10-21
By: Eric C. Wat
-
Between Two Kingdoms
- A Memoir of a Life Interrupted
- By: Suleika Jaouad
- Narrated by: Suleika Jaouad
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer after graduating from college, Suleika Jaouad was preparing, as they say in commencement speeches, to enter “the real world”. She had fallen in love and moved to Paris to pursue her dream of becoming a war correspondent. The real world she found, however, would take her into a very different kind of conflict zone. It started with an itch - first on her feet, then up her legs, like a thousand invisible mosquito bites. Then a trip to the doctor and, a few weeks shy of her 23rd birthday, a diagnosis: leukemia, with a 35 percent chance of survival.
-
-
This was painful.
- By Meredith Nutrition on 07-31-22
By: Suleika Jaouad
-
No Time Like the Future
- An Optimist Considers Mortality
- By: Michael J. Fox
- Narrated by: Michael J. Fox
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The entire world knows Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, the teenage sidekick of Doc Brown in Back to the Future; as Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties; as Mike Flaherty in Spin City; and through numerous other movie roles and guest appearances on shows such as The Good Wife and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Diagnosed at age 29, Michael is equally engaged in Parkinson’s advocacy work, raising global awareness of the disease and helping find a cure through The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, the world's leading nonprofit funder of PD science.
-
-
Thankful
- By Michelle J Swanson on 11-18-20
By: Michael J. Fox
-
On My Own Two Feet
- From Losing My Legs to Learning the Dance of Life
- By: Amy Purdy, Michelle Burford
- Narrated by: Amy Purdy, Jorjeana Marie
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this poignant and uplifting memoir, Dancing with the Stars sensation Amy Purdy reveals the story of how losing her legs led her to find a spiritual path. When the Las Vegas native was just nineteen, she came down with bacterial meningitis and was given less than a two percent chance of survival. In a near-death experience, she saw three figures who told her: “You can come with us, or you can stay. No matter what happens in your life, it's all going to make sense in the end." In that moment, Amy chose to live.
-
-
A Powerful Memoir of Truimph over Tragedy
- By ElizOF on 01-31-22
By: Amy Purdy, and others
-
A Place Called Home
- A Memoir
- By: David Ambroz
- Narrated by: David Ambroz
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There are millions of homeless children in America today and in A Place Called Home, award-winning child welfare advocate David Ambroz writes about growing up homeless in New York for eleven years and his subsequent years in foster care, offering a window into what so many kids living in poverty experience every day.
-
-
Very heart wrenching read, BUT
- By Everest Mom on 01-14-23
By: David Ambroz
-
The Hard Parts
- A Memoir of Courage and Triumph
- By: Oksana Masters, Cassidy Randall - contributor
- Narrated by: Emily Tremaine, Oksana Masters
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Oksana Masters was born in Ukraine—in the shadow of Chernobyl—seemingly with the odds stacked against her. She came into the world with one kidney, a partial stomach, six toes on each foot, webbed fingers, no right bicep, and no thumbs. Her left leg was six inches shorter than her right, and she was missing both tibias.
-
-
Strength is Oksana Masters
- By Trina Bull on 02-01-25
By: Oksana Masters, and others
-
Fractured Not Broken
- By: Kelly Schaefer, Michelle Weidenbenner
- Narrated by: Susanna Burney
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fractured Not Broken is a true story of loss, faith, and a rare love that only happens in nonfiction. In a sweeping and heart-wrenching narrative, Kelly exposes the truth about what happened after a drunk driver rendered her a quadriplegic. She shares how she found her way back - through faith and pain, her community, her family, and the love of a man she prayed for.
-
-
Must read for healthcare professionals
- By Brad Menke on 02-02-24
By: Kelly Schaefer, and others
-
It Was an Ugly Couch Anyway
- And Other Thoughts on Moving Forward
- By: Elizabeth Passarella
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Passarellla
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We've all had to make decisions in our lives about what to keep and what to toss—habits, attitudes, friends, even homes. In this new collection of essays, Elizabeth Passarella explores the ups and downs of moving forward—both emotionally and logistically—with her welcome candor and sense of humor that listeners have come to love. It Was an Ugly Couch Anyway will make listeners laugh, cry, and feel a little less alone as they navigate their own lives that are filled with uncertainty, change, and things beyond their control.
-
-
Amazing Read/Listen
- By Amy Bullins on 06-15-23
-
Wild and Precious Life
- By: Deborah Ziegler
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written by Deborah Ziegler, the mother of Brittany Maynard - a 29-year-old woman with a terminal brain tumor - this touching and beautiful memoir captures and celebrates her daughter's spirit and the mostly untold story of Brittany's last year of life as she chose her right to die with dignity, a journey that inspired millions.
-
-
Powerful
- By k9doctor on 12-07-22
By: Deborah Ziegler
-
It's Okay to Laugh (Crying Is Cool Too)
- By: Nora McInerny Purmort
- Narrated by: Nora McInerny Purmort
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twentysomething Nora McInerny Purmort bounced from boyfriend to boyfriend and job to job. Then she met Aaron, a charismatic art director and her kindred spirit. They made mixtapes (and pancakes) into the wee hours of the morning. They finished each other's sentences. They just knew. When Aaron was diagnosed with a rare brain cancer, they refused to let it limit their love. They got engaged on Aaron's hospital bed and married after his first surgery. They had a baby when he was on chemo.
-
-
Fresh, brutally raw and honest
- By ashton on 05-31-16
-
After Francesco
- By: Brian Malloy
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two years after his partner, Francesco, died, 28-year-old Kevin Doyle is dusting off his one good suit jacket for yet another funeral, yet another loss in their close-knit group. They had all been young, beautiful, and living the best days of their lives, though they didn't know it. That was before New York City began to feel like a war zone, its horrors somehow invisible, and ignored by the rest of the world. Some people might insist that Francesco is in a better place now, but Kevin definitely isn't.
-
-
I resist superlatives
- By Alceste on 08-16-21
By: Brian Malloy
-
Don't Leave Me This Way
- Or When I Get Back on My Feet You'll Be Sorry
- By: Julia Fox Garrison
- Narrated by: Joyce Bean
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Julia Fox Garrison refused to listen to the professionals she called Dr. Jerk and Dr. Panic, who - after she suffered a massive, debilitating stroke at age thirty-seven - told her she’d probably die, or to Nurse Doom, who ignored her emergency call button. Instead she heeded the advice of kind, gifted Dr. Neuro, who promised her he would “treat your mind as well as your body.” Julia figured if she could somehow manage to get herself into a wheelchair, at least she’d always find parking. But after many, many months of hospitalization and rehab, Julia not only got into a wheelchair, but she got back out.
-
-
Heroic Story
- By Pamela Harvey on 02-29-12
-
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive
- 101 Inspirational Stories about Counting Your Blessings and Having a Positive Attitude
- By: Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Amy Newmark, and others
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby, Jim Bond
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
101 True Stories about how Positive Thinking can change your life! Everyone needs a little attitude adjustment once in a while, and these amazing true life stories reveal how real people used positive thinking to improve their lives and overcome challenges. You’ll read stories about how you can make every day a special day, incorporate gratitude and joy into your daily life, count your blessings and change your outlook, use a few well-chosen words to reorient your life, manage cancer and other health challenges through a positive attitude, simplify and have a more meaningful life and more!
-
-
Good overall.
- By Sergey Makeev on 02-21-24
By: Jack Canfield, and others
-
All the Things We Never Knew
- Chasing the Chaos of Mental Illness
- By: Sheila Hamilton
- Narrated by: Sheila Hamilton
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Even as a reporter, Sheila Hamilton missed the signs as her husband David's mental illness unfolded before her. By the time she had pieced together the puzzle, it was too late.
-
-
Author is an unsympathetic martyr.
- By AmazonFanForLife on 04-15-18
By: Sheila Hamilton
-
The Girl He Used to Know
- By: Tracey Garvis Graves
- Narrated by: Fred Berman, Kathleen McInerney
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jonathan and Annika bring out the best in each other, finding the confidence and courage within themselves to plan a future together. What follows is a tumultuous yet tender love affair that withstands everything except the unforeseen tragedy that forces them apart, shattering their connection and leaving them to navigate their lives alone.
-
-
✫✫ ALL THE STARS!!!✫✫
- By ❤️Cyndi Marie❤️🎧Audiobook Addicts🎧 on 04-03-19
-
Two Kisses for Maddy
- A Memoir of Loss & Love
- By: Matthew Logelin
- Narrated by: Matthew Logelin
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Matt and Liz Logelin were high school sweethearts. The pair settled together in Los Angeles and they had it all: the perfect marriage, a beautiful new home, and a baby girl on the way. But just 27 hours after they welcomed Madeline into the world, Liz suffered a pulmonary embolism and instantly died, without ever holding the daughter whose arrival she had so eagerly awaited.
-
-
F**k - too much
- By AB on 04-23-12
By: Matthew Logelin
-
Playing God
- The Evolution of a Modern Surgeon
- By: Anthony Youn MD, Alan Eisenstock - contributor
- Narrated by: Kyle Tait
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"I am a doctor." Every year, thousands of medical school graduates utter these four simple words. But as you will hear in Playing God, earning an MD is just the first step to becoming a real physician. In this thrilling and moving memoir, Dr. Anthony Youn reveals that the true metamorphosis from student to doctor occurs not in medical school but in the formative years of residency training and early practice. Here, you will take a journey through the world of surgery, hospitals, and the practice of medicine unlike any that you have traveled before.
-
-
Reader needing God
- By Mary on 12-01-19
By: Anthony Youn MD, and others
-
I Thought You Said This Would Work
- A Novel
- By: Ann Garvin
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Widowed Samantha Arias hasn’t spoken to Holly Dunfee in forever. It’s for the best. Samantha prefers to avoid conflict. The blisteringly honest Holly craves it. What they still have in common puts them both back on speed dial: a mutual love for Katie, their best friend of twenty-five years, now hospitalized with cancer and needing one little errand from her old college roomies. It’s simple: travel cross-country together, steal her loathsome ex-husband’s VW camper, find Katie’s diabetic Great Pyrenees at a Utah pound, and drive him back home to Wisconsin.
-
-
Carl Haiassen would be proud!
- By Deb Mitchell on 11-06-21
By: Ann Garvin
Critic reviews
"In her tireless fight against discrimination, Anne was and continues to be recognized as a leader, and I’m incredibly gratified and proud that her work and legacy will live on." (Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico Governor)
"It was spectacular, it was heroic, it was brave. After an automobile accident alters the course of Anne Thomas’ life, she takes us on a journey of resilience and character, staying true to herself and her aspirations and refusing to let her disability define who she was." (Jim Toomey, Syndicated Cartoonist, Sherman's Lagoon)
"Anne Thomas’ story focuses on living life to the fullest through the intentional choice to create memorable life experiences." (Mary Nguyen, Director of CSULB Bob Murphy Access Center)
What listeners say about Was It Spectacular?
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rosa V.
- 11-19-22
Anne's story, and life, is spectacular.
The story telling is wonderful. I listened to the book in increments because I wanted to stretch out my enjoyment of her story. Anne and I were in the same law school class. We didn't socialize with the same people, but I always remember her as being very nice to everyone. She always had a smile on her face. I can't recognize the A-hole from law school, but if I knew who he was I would give him a piece of my mind. what a sleeze. RIP Anne and may you be dancing and laughing wherever you are.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!