The Upside
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
The story of how Abdel Sellou (a charismatic ex-con) came to be the caretaker of Philippe Pozzo di Borgo (a paralyzed French aristocrat) inspired the award-winning French movie Les Intouchables (2012), which became an international phenomenon and broke records as one of the most successful French movies of all time. Now, The Upside, the American remake of Les Intouchables, starring Kevin Hart, Bryan Cranston, and Nicole Kidman will be released in both the US and the UK in January 2019.
Abdel Sellou and Philippe Pozzo di Borgo were two people marginalized by society: Sellou a wisecracking, unemployed immigrant, just out on parole; Pozzo a man born to wealth and privilege, recently paralyzed from the neck down after a paragliding accident. How they came to help each other, and the unlikely friendship that became a lifeline for them both, is an uplifting story that's now been told and retold around the world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this heartwarming memoir, which inspired the film of the same name, Algerian immigrant Sellou relates how his 10-year friendship with a rich, disabled Frenchman developed from a chance encounter. In 1975, when Sellou was four years old, Sellou's parents sent him from Algiers to Paris to live with his aunt and uncle. They hoped he would have a better life than he did in Algiers, but instead he became an aimless youth who mugged tourists. In 1994, Sellou set out to look for a job and met a wealthy man named Philippe Pozzo di Borgo, who had been rendered paraplegic by a paragliding accident. Pozzo di Borgo appreciated Sellou's humor and irreverence and hired him as his caretaker. After Pozzo di Borgo's wife died from cancer, he fell into a deep depression, but his friendship with Sellou helped him "find the desire to live again." Throughout, Sellou offers spot-on observations about their relationship and especially "Mr. Pozzo," who "laughs constantly and at himself more than anything else." Sellou remains the unruly cut-up, continually providing levity and joy. This is a fresh, uplifting book of loyalty and friendship.
