If at Birth You Don't Succeed

Starred review from November 9, 2015
In this wonderful, open collection of essays, Anner, a stand-up comedian, reflects on his 30 years with cerebral palsy. Though the disease has limited Anner’s mobility, it’s done nothing to dampen his sense of humor and love of the world; he was a breakout favorite on the OWN reality competition Oprah’s Search for the Next TV Star, which launched a series of travel shows, and he writes at length about the experience with some intriguing insights. A great deal of Anner’s comedy is the peppy, uplifting sort you’d expect from someone who Oprah says “makes want to be a better person,” such as his elaborate Olive Garden metaphors for the nature of life, but there’s a healthy dose of sobering reality in the mix as well. Some of his most resonant work deals with the influences on his life as a person with a disability: Anner remarks wryly that being expected to act as an ambassador for the disabled “is a tightrope walk, which is hard on four wheels.” Maybe so, but with this book, he makes it look easy.

December 15, 2015
Wry anecdotes from the life of comedian, "inspirational leader," and Oprah protege Anner. "I never expected to be a disability advocate," writes the author in this funny, empowering autobiography chronicling his three decades of life (so far) with cerebral palsy, a permanent condition that hasn't prevented him from living his dream as a comic, a media sensation, and a motivational speaker. In Anner's own words, he was born "a crappy baby who failed his way into this world and I've been making the best of it ever since." The result of a premature birth, Anner's CP emerged, but the condition took a back seat early on during his very public, whirlwind life developing his TV and online persona and his work "humanizing disability." Anner's narrative is affably chatty as he escorts readers through the stories of his childhood, the nicknames, the foibles, and the journey toward winning a competition to star in his own (if short-lived) wheelchair travel show, Rollin' with Zach, on Oprah's OWN network. His viral audition for Oprah made him a "household name overnight," and the author recounts his random adventures in speed dating and telling "cripple jokes" onstage as a budding comedian. Not exclusively modest yet free of hubris, Anner's talky, balanced memoir picks up steam in the second half as the author's involvement in a radio show, a documentary, and a TV series provide pages of appealing, hilarious riffs, including a tenure as a "Disney Cast Member" and his "cowardly Casanova groove" period spent dispensing dating advice while ignoring his own late-blooming romantic life. After years of hard-won success and personal challenges, Anner still admits, "learning how to stay true to yourself while some people expect you to speak for everyone has been a tightrope walk--which is very hard to do on four wheels." An inspirational memoir with a seasoned, infectious sense of humor.

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