Sudden Paralysis and 'The Best Seat in the House' It was a Tuesday like any other until, with no warning, Allen Rucker woke up paralyzed from the waist down. He was 51 at the time. Rucker talks about his new book, The Best Seat in the House, where he takes an unsentimental, and at times, hilarious view of his experience.

Sudden Paralysis and 'The Best Seat in the House'

Sudden Paralysis and 'The Best Seat in the House'

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Allen Rucker learned the skills, and the indignities of life in a wheelchair. hide caption

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Allen Rucker learned the skills, and the indignities of life in a wheelchair.

In 1996, Allen Rucker had no real complaints: happily married, two kids, a house in West Los Angeles. At the age of 51, his career as a television writer was looking up.

Then one Tuesday, out of the blue, he started to feel a burning sensation around his waist. Inside an hour an a half, he was paralyzed from the waist down by a rare condition called transverse myelitis.

It sounds like a nightmare, and he had a few of those, but in his new memoir, Allen Rucker describes his new life with honesty, accessibility, and irrepressible impudence.