It can be said that Spider’s book is an optimistic, often humorous examination of a disaster that somehow transformed itself into a bright sunny day.
Out of the Darkness is a polite title for this raw, ruthless, self-depricating story of a desperately poor black child’s struggle.?Coming from poverty would be a gross understatement for the crushing circumstances of Spider Jones’ beginnings. Depression was so overwhelming that the boy was even “afraid to dream.”? It appears that the simple?acts of breathing in and breathing out were performed long enough that “out of nothing at all”?opportunities arose.? This powerful, rough, often clumsy biography depicts the twisted path followed by a terrified, confused boy, to achieve success.
We know Spider Jones as a prominent radio and television personality.? This may lull us into the belief that he was always a cheerful, happy prankster.? His book is another clear revelation that celebrities can suffer and bleed like the rest of us and have painful baggage on their backs.
Spider reminds us, how pure luck and sudden twists of fate can shape a life.? This honest, direct recitation of his fragility presents us with a window seldom looked through.? Perhaps this vulnerable opinion of himself is what endears him to so many greats, such as Jake Lamata, George Chuvalo, Mohammed Ali and many other stars of music and sports.? Spider’s contact with these celebrities is warm and tastefully presented.
Chuck’s biography is reminiscent of that perceptive Pink Floyd song, “Everybody hurts sometime . . . hold on.”? It appears that Spider and his co-writer Michael Hughes, have held on long enough to be holding a bestseller.?
