When you are born into a violent and alcoholic family, you have two options to deal with your life. First, you can screw it up. Or you'll screw it up less if you try harder. It's time for the truth about who I really am. And I believe that I am not just writing my own story.”
Tomáš Šebek, surgeon and author of successful reporting books on humanitarian missions, embarks on his most challenging journey yet. On the way to a childhood spent in a dysfunctional family. On the path of personal and professional failures, partner infidelities and lies. But also on the path of determination to defy fate and the desire to take life into one's own hands.
Fights in the streets of Prague's old Karlín alternate here with episodes from operating theatres, exciting journeys are surrounded by even more exciting circumstances when building your own company. But all those adventures behind the stick of an airplane, in flooded tunnels or in war zones pale in comparison to the most difficult mission - to be a good father to four children and not to repeat the mistakes of parents.
The book, written in Šebek's typical predatory, energetic style with a sense of humor and exaggeration, is based on the author's experiences and deals with serious social problems - domestic violence, misinformation or addictions. In contrast to them, values ​​such as love, bravery, discipline, passion or gratitude stand out, the true meaning of which is discovered on everyday occasions and in the wider perspective of social responsibility. Šebek writes a painfully open, yet liberating confession, which is a kind of medical report, an "objective finding" that tells not only about him, but also about all of us.
The book is accompanied by the author's illustrations.