The Upside
A Memoir (Movie Tie-In Edition)
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4.0 • 51 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
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 (the American remake starring Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston coming in 2018).
Sellou's fictional reincarnation, Driss, played to critical acclaim by French comedian Omar Sy in the movie Les Intouchables, captured the hearts of millions. Already a bestseller in France and Germany, You Changed My Life shows us the real man behind Sy's edgy charm. 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.
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.
