12-26-2016, 05:04 PM
You Changed My Life by Abdel Sellou
![[Image: 51_Ot9_RDoo_M4_203_200.jpg]](https://s23.postimg.org/nxotmwq4r/51_Ot9_RDoo_M4_203_200.jpg)
You Saved My Life tells the extraordinary true story of the charming Algerian con-man whose friendship with a disabled French aristocrat inspired the record-breaking hit film, The Intouchables.
Sellou’s fictional reincarnation, Driss, played to critical acclaim by French comedian Omar Sy in the movie Les Intouchables, captured the hearts of millions with his edgy charm. Already a bestseller in France and Germany, You Changed My Life shows us the real man behind Sy’s smiling face. The book takes us from his childhood spent stealing candy from the local grocery store, to his career as a pickpocket and scam artist, to his unexpected employment as a companion for a quadriplegic.
Sellou has never before divulged the details of his past. In many interviews and documentaries, he has evaded or shrugged off the question of his childhood and his stay in prison, until now. He tells his story with a stunning amount of talent, with humor, style, and—though he denies that he has any—humility.
Sellou’s idiosyncratic and candidly charming voice is magnificently captured in this memoir, a fact to which his friend Philippe Pozzo di Borgo testifies in his touching preface for the book.
After seeing the movie, "The Intouchables," I couldn't believe that a person (Abdel/"Driss") so characterologically amoral would be able to change the way the movie pictured in such a short time. So I bought this book that he wrote for another perspective--and I was not disappointed; it gave that to me and I feel richly rewarded for having read it. (Now I'll start reading "A Second Wind" by Phillippe Pozzo di Borgo.)
I recommend you see the movie first, bearing in mind that it's not a documentary but was inspired by the life stories of Phillippe Pozzo and Abdel ("Driss" in the film). The movie does have much more continuity than the book but at the expense of taking many liberties, short cuts, alterations of the actual facts and time lines. (E.g., Abdel/"Driss" worked with Phillippe for 10 years and about a year before Phillippe's first wife, Beatrice, died; Abdel did not play "matchmaker" for Phillipe's second marriage.) It does stay true to the unique and uplifting story of these two men.
Although Abdel is not a skilled author -- I found his book fascinating because it was like spending an afternoon chatting with Abdel about his life before, during, and after his time with Phillippe: somewhat disjointed, organized by when something comes into his mind rather than being driven by a need to carefully, very orderly explicate beginnings, middles, and conclusions. Abdel's "style" gives a feeling of the unique reality of Abdel that a more polished version probably would never accomplish. This book's "Forward" by Phillipe expresses surprise that Abdel would open up so much and, IMO, Abdel's style of writing and content, what he covers or doesn't cover, conveys Abdel's ambivalence and views of the real person and his transformation that a more experienced writer couldn't touch.
I'm a retired clinical psychologist; much of my last 20+ years of work was in the marriage and family area. I learned there's never just one "true" view of relationships; it always depends on who is telling the story. E.g., the child favored by one parent has a much different view of both parents than his/her sibling does. The "Rashomon effect"* actually exists: "The Intouchables" film gave one view of them, Abdel's and Phillippe's books give two others.
You Saved My Life tells the extraordinary true story of the charming Algerian con-man whose friendship with a disabled French aristocrat inspired the record-breaking hit film, The Intouchables.
Sellou’s fictional reincarnation, Driss, played to critical acclaim by French comedian Omar Sy in the movie Les Intouchables, captured the hearts of millions with his edgy charm. Already a bestseller in France and Germany, You Changed My Life shows us the real man behind Sy’s smiling face. The book takes us from his childhood spent stealing candy from the local grocery store, to his career as a pickpocket and scam artist, to his unexpected employment as a companion for a quadriplegic.
Sellou has never before divulged the details of his past. In many interviews and documentaries, he has evaded or shrugged off the question of his childhood and his stay in prison, until now. He tells his story with a stunning amount of talent, with humor, style, and—though he denies that he has any—humility.
Sellou’s idiosyncratic and candidly charming voice is magnificently captured in this memoir, a fact to which his friend Philippe Pozzo di Borgo testifies in his touching preface for the book.
After seeing the movie, "The Intouchables," I couldn't believe that a person (Abdel/"Driss") so characterologically amoral would be able to change the way the movie pictured in such a short time. So I bought this book that he wrote for another perspective--and I was not disappointed; it gave that to me and I feel richly rewarded for having read it. (Now I'll start reading "A Second Wind" by Phillippe Pozzo di Borgo.)
I recommend you see the movie first, bearing in mind that it's not a documentary but was inspired by the life stories of Phillippe Pozzo and Abdel ("Driss" in the film). The movie does have much more continuity than the book but at the expense of taking many liberties, short cuts, alterations of the actual facts and time lines. (E.g., Abdel/"Driss" worked with Phillippe for 10 years and about a year before Phillippe's first wife, Beatrice, died; Abdel did not play "matchmaker" for Phillipe's second marriage.) It does stay true to the unique and uplifting story of these two men.
Although Abdel is not a skilled author -- I found his book fascinating because it was like spending an afternoon chatting with Abdel about his life before, during, and after his time with Phillippe: somewhat disjointed, organized by when something comes into his mind rather than being driven by a need to carefully, very orderly explicate beginnings, middles, and conclusions. Abdel's "style" gives a feeling of the unique reality of Abdel that a more polished version probably would never accomplish. This book's "Forward" by Phillipe expresses surprise that Abdel would open up so much and, IMO, Abdel's style of writing and content, what he covers or doesn't cover, conveys Abdel's ambivalence and views of the real person and his transformation that a more experienced writer couldn't touch.
I'm a retired clinical psychologist; much of my last 20+ years of work was in the marriage and family area. I learned there's never just one "true" view of relationships; it always depends on who is telling the story. E.g., the child favored by one parent has a much different view of both parents than his/her sibling does. The "Rashomon effect"* actually exists: "The Intouchables" film gave one view of them, Abdel's and Phillippe's books give two others.
Code:
http://mir.cr/AHTHXPVY