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Have Dog, Will Travel: A Poet's Journey
By Stephen Kuusisto. 2018
In a lyrical love letter to guide dogs everywhere, a blind poet shares his delightful story of how a guide…
dog changed his life and helped him discover a newfound appreciation for travel and independence. Stephen Kuusisto was born legally blind—but he was also raised in the 1950s and taught to deny his blindness in order to "pass" as sighted. Stephen attended public school, rode a bike, and read books pressed right up against his nose. As an adult, he coped with his limited vision by becoming a professor in a small college town, memorizing routes for all of the places he needed to be. Then, at the age of 38, he was laid off. With no other job opportunities in his vicinity, he would have to travel to find work. This is how he found himself at Guiding Eyes paired with a Labrador named Corky. In this vivid and lyrical memoir, Stephen Kuusisto recounts how an incredible partnership with a guide dog changed his life and the heart-stopping, wondrous adventure that began for him in midlife. Profound and deeply moving, this is a spiritual journey, the story of discovering that life with a guide dog is both a method and a state of mind.Signifying Bodies
By G. Thomas Couser. 2009
Thomas Couser sSignifying Bodiescomes at a crucial moment when debates about physician assisted suicide genetic engineering and neo-natal…
screening are raising the question of what constitutes a life worth living for persons with disabilities Couser s work engages these debates by exploring the extensive number of personal narratives by or about persons with disabilities As Couser brilliantly demonstrates through synoptic readings these works challenge the preferred rhetorics by which such narratives are usually written triumphalist gothic nostalgic while making visible the variegated nature of embodied life ---Michael Davidson University of California San Diego Signifying Bodiesshows us that life writing about disability is everywhere From obituary to documentary film to ethnography to literary memoir to the law the book casts a wide net detailing how various written and filmed responses to disability both enact and resist conventional narrative patterns This not only broadens our idea about where to look for life writing but also demonstrates how thoroughly stereotypes about disability mediate our social and artistic languages---even when an author has so-called the best intentions ---Susannah B Mintz Skidmore College Memoirs have enjoyed great popularity in recent years experiencing significant sales prominent reviews and diverse readerships Signifying Bodiesshows that at the heart of the memoir phenomenon is our fascination with writing that focuses on what it means to live in or be an anomalous body---in other words what it means to be disabled Previous literary accounts of the disabled body have often portrayed it as a stable entity possibly signifying moral deviance or divine disfavor but contemporary writers with disabilities are defining themselves and depicting their bodies in new ways Using the insights of disability studies and source material ranging from the Old and New Testaments to the works of authors like Lucy Grealy and Simi Linton and including contemporary films such asMillion Dollar Baby G Thomas Couser sheds light on a broader cultural phenomenon exploring topics such as the ethical issues involved in disability memoirs the rhetorical patterns they frequently employ and the complex relationship between disability narrative and disability law G Thomas Couser is Professor of English at Hofstra UniversityMindfulness as Medicine: A Story of Healing Body and Spirit
By Sister Dang Nghiem. 2015
Before she became a Buddhist nun in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, Sister Dang Nghiem was a doctor. She'd…
traveled far in her 43 years. Born during the Tet Offensive and part of the amnesty for Amerasian children of the late 1970s, Dang Nghiem arrived in this country virtually penniless and with no home. She lived with three foster families, but graduated high school with honors, earned two undergraduate degrees, and became a doctor. When the man she thought she'd spend her life with suddenly drowned, Sister Dang Nghiem left medicine and joined the monastic community of Thich Nhat Hanh.It is from this vantage point that Dang Nghiem writes about her journey of healing. Devastated by the diagnosis and symptoms of Lyme, she realized that she was also reliving many of the unresolved traumas from earlier in her life. She applied both her medical knowledge and her advanced understanding and practice of mindfulness to healing. Through meditation she finally came to understand what it means to "master" suffering.In Mindfulness as Medicine Sister Dang Nghiem leads readers through her profound journey of healing and shares step-by-step directions for the techniques she used to embrace and transform her suffering."Suffering can be transformed and cured at its roots...Suffering is an art that can be learned and mastered...We do not have to run away from it anymore...The art of suffering can bring about deep appreciation for life as well as profound peace, joy, and love for ourselves and other beings."--Sister Dang NghiemTough As They Come
By Marcus Brotherton, Gary Sinise, Travis Mills. 2015
Thousands have been wounded in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Five have survived quadruple amputee injuries. This is one…
soldier's story. Thousands of soldiers die year to defend their country. United States Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills was sure that he would become another statistic when, during his third tour of duty in Afghanistan, he was caught in an IED blast four days before his twenty-fifth birthday. Against the odds, he lived, but at a severe cost--Travis became one of only five soldiers from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to survive a quadruple amputation. Suddenly forced to reconcile with the fact that he no longer had arms or legs, Travis was faced with a future drastically different from the one he had imagined for himself. He would never again be able to lead his squad, stroke his fingers against his wife's cheek, or pick up his infant daughter. Travis struggled through the painful and anxious days of rehabilitation so that he could regain the strength to live his life to the fullest. With enormous willpower and endurance, the unconditional love of his family, and a generous amount of faith, Travis shocked everyone with his remarkable recovery. Even without limbs, he still swims, dances with his wife, rides mountain bikes, and drives his daughter to school. Travis inspires thousands every day with his remarkable journey. He doesn't want to be thought of as wounded. "I'm just a man with scars," he says, "living life to the fullest and best I know how."From the Hardcover edition.Life as Jamie Knows It: An Exceptional Child Grows Up
By Michael Berube. 2016
The story of Jamie Bérubé's journey to adulthood and a meditation on disability in American lifePublished in 1996, Life as…
We Know It introduced Jamie Bérubé to the world as a sweet, bright, gregarious little boy who loves the Beatles, pizza, and making lists. When he is asked in his preschool class what he would like to be when he grows up, he responds with one word: big. At four, he is like many kids his age, but his Down syndrome prevents most people from seeing him as anything but disabled.Twenty years later, Jamie is no longer little, though he still jams to the Beatles, eats pizza, and makes endless lists of everything--from the sixty-seven counties of Pennsylvania (in alphabetical order, from memory) to the various opponents of the wrestler known as the Undertaker.In Life as Jamie Knows It, Michael Bérubé chronicles his son's journey to adulthood and his growing curiosity and engagement with the world. Writing as both a disability studies scholar and a father, he follows Jamie through his social and academic experiences in school, his evolving relationships with his parents and brother, Nick, his encounters with illness, and the complexities of entering the workforce with a disability. As Jamie matures, his parents acknowledge his entitlement to a personal sense of independence, whether that means riding the bus home from work on his own, taking himself to a Yankees game, or deciding which parts of his story are solely his to share.With a combination of stirring memoir and sharp intellectual inquiry, Bérubé tangles with bioethicists, politicians, philosophers, and anyone else who sees disability as an impediment to a life worth living. Far more than the story of an exceptional child growing up to be "big," Life as Jamie Knows It challenges us to rethink how we approach disability and is a passionate call for moving toward a more just, more inclusive society.From the Hardcover edition.Fire in My Eyes: An American Warrior's Journey from Being Blinded on the Battlefield to Gold Medal Victory
By Brad Snyder, Tom Sileo. 2016
"I am not going to let my blindness build a brick wall around me. I'd give my eyes one hundred…
times again to have the chance to do what I have done, and what I can still do."-Brad Snyder speaking with First Lady Michelle Obama On the night Osama bin Laden was killed, US Navy Lieutenant Brad Snyder was serving in Afghanistan as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal officer with SEAL Team Ten. When he learned of SEAL Team Six's heroics across the Pakistani border, Brad was thankful. Still, he knew that his dangerous combat deployment would continue. Less than five months later, Brad was engulfed by darkness after a massive blast caused by an enemy improvised explosive device. Suddenly Brad was blind, with vivid dreams serving as painful nightly reminders of his sacrifice. Exactly one year after losing his sight, Brad heard thousands cheer as he stood on a podium in London. Incredibly, Brad had just won a gold medal in swimming at the 2012 Paralympic Games. Fire in My Eyes is the astonishing true story of a wounded veteran who refused to give up. Lieutenant Brad Snyder did not let blindness build a wall around him-through tenacity and courage, he tore it down.The Chicken Who Saved Us: The Remarkable Story of Andrew and Frightful
By Kristin Jarvis Adams. 2017
The true story of an autistic boy with a body under siege by mysterious illness, and the chicken who saved…
his life."Heartbreakingly beautiful - the gift of the human animal bond.” - Temple Grandin, Author, researcher, consultant and world-renowned autism spokespersonEight-year-old Andrew was autistic and bilingual. He spoke English - and Chicken. But the day he told his pet chicken Frightful that his body was trying to kill him, Andrew’s family and an entire medical community were launched into a decade-long quest for answers. This honest memoir of fierce and faithful parenting takes readers on a heartfelt journey through chronic illness and Asperger’s syndrome to discover the healing bond between a boy and his chicken. Navigating the complex landscape of modern medicine and genetics, through a rare diagnosis of Trisomy 8 Mosaicism and an experimental bone marrow transplant, readers venture to places where chickens talk, superheroes come alive, and a boy on the brink of death finds the courage to survive.Nujeen: One Girl's Journey from War-Torn Syria in a Wheelchair
By Christina Lamb, Nujeen Mustafa. 2016
Prize-winning journalist and the co-author of smash New York Times bestseller I Am Malala, Christina Lamb, now tells the inspiring…
true story of another remarkable young hero: Nujeen Mustafa, a teenager born with cerebral palsy, whose harrowing journey from war-ravaged Syria to Germany in a wheelchair is a breathtaking tale of fortitude, grit, and hope that lends a face to the greatest humanitarian issue of our time, the Syrian refugee crisis.For millions around the globe, sixteen-year-old Nujeen Mustafa embodies the best of the human spirit. Confined to a wheelchair because of her cerebral palsy and denied formal schooling in Syria because of her illness, Nujeen taught herself English by watching American soap operas. When her small town became the epicenter of the brutal fight between ISIS militants and US-backed Kurdish troops in 2014, she and her family were forced to flee.Despite her physical limitations, Nujeen embarked on the arduous trek to safety and a new life. The grueling sixteen-month odyssey by foot, boat, and bus took her across Turkey and the Mediterranean to Greece, through Macedonia to Serbia and Hungary, and finally, to Germany. Yet, in spite of the tremendous physical hardship she endured, Nujeen's extraordinary optimism never wavered. Refusing to give in to despair or see herself as a passive victim, she kept her head high. As she told a BBC reporter, "You should fight to get what you want in this world."Nujeen's positivity and resolve infuses this unforgettable story of one young woman determined to make a better life for herself. Told by acclaimed British foreign correspondent Christina Lamb, Nujeen is a unique and powerful memoir that gives voice to the Syrian refugee crisis, helping us to understand that the world must change--and offering the inspiration to make that change reality.Don't Call Me Inspirational: A Disabled Feminist Talks Back
By Harilyn Rousso. 2013
For psychotherapist, painter, feminist, filmmaker, writer, and disability activist Harilyn Rousso, hearing well-intentioned people tell her, "Youre so inspirational "…
is patronizing, not complimentary. In her empowering and at times confrontational memoir, "Dont Call Me Inspirational," Rousso, who has cerebral palsy, describes overcoming the prejudice against disability--not overcoming disability. She addresses the often absurd and ignorant attitudes of strangers, friends, and family. Rousso also examines her own prejudice toward her disabled body, and portrays the healing effects of intimacy and creativity, as well as her involvement with the disability rights community. She intimately reveals herself with honesty and humor and measures her personal growth as she goes from "passing" to embracing and claiming her disability as a source of pride, positive identity, and rebellion. A collage of images about her life, rather than a formal portrait, "Dont Call Me Inspirational" celebrates Roussos wise, witty, productive, outrageous life, disability and all.Step By Step: Finding My Way Back to Me
By Linda Buchan. 2016
My name is Linda Buchan and when I was 18 years old I died... On a winter's day, Saturday June…
27, 1998 my young life ended and my new life began. A life that was to be so completely different to the one that I had envisaged, the one that I had expected... ... In the days, weeks, months and years that followed I was often stricken with pain, sadness, despair, distress and heartbreak but I never for one moment thought about giving up. I didn't know where it came from but I always had hope, I always knew that I would not only survive but that my life would get better. In Linda Buchan's raw and powerful memoir she shares her journey from the terrible night when the life and future she thought lay ahead of her was shattered. From that moment she began a new life, firstly fighting just to survive, then forging her way with incredible courage and determination to live a fulfilling and purposeful life on her own terms. She is living proof of her own mantra It's not what happens to you. It is how you deal with it. Linda's way of dealing with what happened to her has been to combine acceptance and contentment, finely mixed with determination and an undeniable drive and passion for life. Her athletic background underpinned her physical determination and mental willpower, which helped her recovery immensely. To this day she draws on all of these attributes. Linda is the embodiment of her mantra "it's not what happens to you. It's how you deal with it." She is an inspiration to us all. - Janine Shepherd AMTreehab: Tales from My Natural, Wild Life
By Bob Smith. 2016
In this bitingly funny and often surprising memoir, award-winning author and groundbreaking comedian Bob Smith offers a meditation on the…
vitality of the natural world--and an intimate portrait of his own darkly humorous and profoundly authentic response to a life-changing illness. In Treehab--named after a retreat cabin in rural Ontario--Smith muses how he has "always sought the path less traveled." He rebuffs his diagnosis of ALS as only an unflappable stand-up comic could ("Lou Gehrig's Disease? But I don't even like baseball!") and explores his complex, fulfilling experience of fatherhood, both before and after the onset of the disease. Stories of his writing and performing life--punctuated by hilariously cutting jokes that comedians tell only to each other--are interspersed with tales of Smith's enduring relationship with nature: boyhood sojourns in the woods of upstate New York and adult explorations of the remote Alaskan wilderness; snakes and turtles, rocks and minerals; open sky and forest canopy; God and friendship--all recurring touchstones that inspire him to fight for his survival and for the future of his two children. Aiming his potent, unflinching wit at global warming, equal rights, sex, dogs, Thoreau, and more, Smith demonstrates here the inimitable insight that has made him a beloved voice of a generation. He reminds us that life is perplexing, beautiful, strange, and entirely worth celebrating.My Body Politic: A Memoir
By Simi Linton. 2006
"I read My Body Politic with admiration, sometimes for the pain that all but wept on the page, again for…
sheer exuberant friendships, for self-discovery, political imagination, and pluck. . . . Wonderful! In a dark time, a gift of hope. -Daniel Berrigan, S. J. "The struggles, joys, and political awakening of a firecracker of a narrator. . . . Linton has succeeded in creating a life both rich and enviable. With her crackle, irreverence, and intelligence, it's clear that the author would never be willing to settle. . . . Wholly enjoyable. " -Kirkus Reviews "Linton is a passionate guide to a world many outsiders, and even insiders, find difficult to navigate. . . . In this volume, she recounts her personal odyssey, from flower child . . . to disability-rights/human rights activist. " -Publishers Weekly "Witty, original, and political without being politically correct, introducing us to a cast of funny, brave, remarkable characters (including the professional dancer with one leg) who have changed the way that 'walkies' understand disability. By the time Linton tells you about the first time she was dancing in her wheelchair, you will feel like dancing, too. " ---Carol Tavris, author of Anger: The Misunderstood Emotion "This astonishing book has perfect pitch. It is filled with wit and passion. Linton shows us how she learned to 'absorb disability,' and to pilot a new and interesting body. With verve and wonder, she discovers her body's pleasures, hungers, surprises, hurts, strengths, limits, and uses. " -Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, author of Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring Physical Disability in American Culture and Literature "An extraordinarily readable account of life in the fast lane. . . a brilliant autobiography and a great read. " -Sander L. Gilman, author of Fat Boys: A Slim Book While hitchhiking from Boston to Washington, D. C. , in 1971 to protest the war in Vietnam, Simi Linton was involved in a car accident that paralyzed her legs and took the lives of her young husband and her best friend. Her memoir begins with her struggle to regain physical and emotional strength and to resume her life in the world. Then Linton takes us on the road she traveled (with stops in Berkeley, Paris, Havana) and back to her home in Manhattan, as she learns what it means to be a disabled person in America. Linton eventually completed a Ph. D. , remarried, and began teaching at Hunter College. Along the way she became deeply committed to the disability rights movement and to the people she joined forces with. The stories in My Body Politic are populated with richly drawn portraits of Linton's disabled comrades, people of conviction and lusty exuberance who dance, play-and organize--with passion and commitment. My Body Politic begins in the midst of the turmoil over Vietnam and concludes with a meditation on the U. S. involvement in the current war in Iraq and the war's wounded veterans. While a memoir of the author's gradual political awakening, My Body Politic is filled with adventure, celebration, and rock and roll-Salvador Dali, James Brown, and Jimi Hendrix all make cameo appearances. Linton weaves a tale that shows disability to be an ordinary part of the twists and turns of life and, simultaneously, a unique vantage point on the world.Cam Tait
By Jim Taylor, Cam Tait. 2015
"I have cerebral palsy much like I have blue eyes and have-or should I say had?-brown hair. It is simply…
a part of who I am. When I speak to groups about my situation I can even joke about it. 'Think of CP as Canada Post,' I tell them. 'My brain sends out signals, and God knows where they wind up.'" Long-time journalist Cam Tait has seen some interesting times on the sports beat-rolling alongside Rick Hansen in the Man in Motion tour, playing in fundraising golf tournaments, and tipping back some cold ones with Wayne Gretzky, to name a few. His personal life hasn't lacked excitement either-memorable moments include parasailing, winning a stand-up (or in his case, sit-down) comedy contest, and helping his grandson take his first steps. But he couldn't have done it without the help of his friends. Tait was born with cerebral palsy, unable to sit up, speak or move his arms and legs. But thanks to a revolutionary form of physical therapy that required a 24/7 commitment from his parents and a team of 116 volunteers, he learned to get around in a wheelchair, move his hands and talk. These turned out to be useful skills for a career of prime interviews, crazy deadlines and pranks. Tait teams up with friend and fellow journalist Jim Taylor, telling his own story with characteristic directness and humour. With a newspaperman's inveterate sense of timing, Tait moves seamlessly from one-liners and tales of debauched hijinks to candid accounts of his depression, career struggles and loss of loved ones. He speaks with eloquence about the importance of giving disabled people the chance to pursue their ambitions, and the value of all the support he's received in achieving his own dreams. In both his career and personal life, he's experienced the power of humour to break down barriers and bring people together-and have a hell of a good time doing it.I Can Feel Blue On Monday
By Marc Maurer. 2000
The title vignette involves a teacher who is determined that a young boy (who is blind) should be able to…
feel the color of the piece of paper which she gives him. When he assures her that this is not possible, the teacher badgers him until he answers: "I can feel blue on Monday." He is sent to the principal's office for punishment. The principal is a wise man, and the "punishment" is quite fun. "The present volume, I Can Feel Blue on Monday, is number nineteen in the [Kernel Book] series. Here you will meet old friends and new-the real blind men and women whose stories tell what blindness is and, perhaps equally important, what it is not. Although our problems often seem complex, they frequently result from simple matters of misunderstanding and lack of information. ... How does a blind tourist absorb the splendor of the palace of the Imperial Chinese Emperor? What about the woman with failing eyesight who can no longer see the beautiful wings of a butterfly-can she no longer hope to experience those magical moments of beauty which once moved her to tears? And, finally, if (as Thomas Edison once said) 80 percent of all we learn comes through the eye, can our hope for normal lives be anything more than a futile dream?Toothpaste and Railroad Tracks
By Kenneth Jernigan. 1995
This is the eighth book in the Kernel Books Series--a series of books in which people who are blind tell…
about life situations and how they coped with them. "What do toothpaste and railroad tracks have in common? Just about the same that axes and law books do--nothing and everything. They are the building blocks of the routine of daily existence. In a very real sense they are the essence of humanity itself. When I was younger (maybe 40 years ago), there was a popular song called "Little Things Mean a Lot." It dealt with what the title implies, but its message was much more than that. It was that each little incident (relatively unimportant in and of itself) combines with all of the other trivial events that are constantly happening to us to form the pattern of our lives. It is not the major events but the recurring details that make us what we are--that determine whether we will succeed or fail, be happy and productive or sad and miserable. Other books in this series are available from Bookshare."A Certain Loneliness: A Memoir (American Lives)
By Sandra Gail Lambert. 2018
After contracting polio as a child, Sandra Gail Lambert progressed from braces and crutches to a manual wheelchair to a…
power wheelchair—but loneliness has remained a constant, from the wild claustrophobia of a child in body casts to just yesterday, trapped at home, gasping from pain. A Certain Loneliness is a meditative and engaging memoir-in-essays that explores the intersection of disability, queerness, and female desire with frankness and humor. Lambert presents the adventures of flourishing within a world of uncertain tomorrows: kayaking alone through swamps with alligators; negotiating planes, trains, and ski lifts; scoring free drugs from dangerous men; getting trapped in a too-deep snow drift without crutches. A Certain Loneliness is literature of the body, palpable and present, in which Lambert’s lifelong struggle with isolation and independence—complete with tiresome frustrations, slapstick moments, and grand triumphs—are wound up in the long history of humanity’s relationship to the natural world.Extraordinary People with Disabilities
By Deborah Kent, Kathryn A. Quinlan. 1996
This book tells the stories of 54 historical figures with disabilities. From people who were known for their disability like…
Helen Keller, Stevie Wonder and Heather Whitestone to people who made an impact on the world and not just amongst the disabled community, like FDR, Harriet Tubman and Thomas Edison. In addition to the biographies there are short histories of legislation that changed history for Americans with Disabilities.Qué día más bueno: Tomar LSD en microdosis me cambió la vida
By Ayelet Waldman. 2017
Un mes en la vida de una mujer, escritora, esposa y madre de cuatro hijos que busca la estabilidad depositando…
sobre su lengua dos gotas de LSD. «Dos días después abrí el buzón y encontré un paquete. En el remite decía "Lewis Carroll". Dentro encontré un frasquito de color azul cobalto.» Hasta entonces, Ayelet Waldman había probado todas las terapias imaginables, de la farmacopea al mindfulness. Pero las tempestades anímicas que le provocaba su trastorno bipolar eran insoportables; marido e hijos sufrían con ella. Dos gotas del frasquito en la lengua y Ayelet se suma a la legión subterránea de ciudadanos que hacen un uso terapéutico del LSD en microdosis. Durante un mes, esta abogada, escritora y madre de adolescentes, lleva un diario sobre el tratamiento. En él también explora la historia y los mitos que rodean al LSD y otras drogas, así como la lucha bizantina que el Estado les antepone. El resultado es un testimonio revelador, tan alegre como fascinante. Críticas:«El libro más divertido que he leído últimamente.»Zadie Smith «Una mirada curiosa y exhaustiva a las posibilidades terapéuticas de las drogas ilegales. Un libro fascinante y profusamente documentado.»Nora Krug, The Washington Post «Un manifiesto lúcido y coherente sobre cómo y por qué la empresa racista e inmoral de la Guerra contra las drogas ha fracasado. Una obra apasionante y persuasiva.»Claire Vaye Watkins, The New Republic «Podría decirse que este libro es la particular guerra de Ayelet Waldman contra la propaganda que subyace a la Guerra contra las drogas, pero es también mucho más que eso y, sobre todo, mucho más divertido.»Rebeca Solnit «Un libro sincero, valiente y muy humano. Normalizando la discusión sobre el LSD, Waldman puede que un día ayude a otros a sentirse normales.»Jennifer Senior, The New York TimesThe Education Of Laura Bridgman: First Deaf And Blind Person To Learn Language
By Ernest Freeberg. 2001
In the mid-nineteenth century, Laura Bridgman, a young child from New Hampshire, became one of the most famous women in…
the world. Philosophers, theologians, and educators hailed her as a miracle, and a vast public followed the intimate details of her life with rapt attention. This girl, all but forgotten today, was the first deaf and blind person ever to learn language. Laura's dark and silent life was transformed when she became the star pupil of the educational crusader Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe. Against the backdrop of an antebellum Boston seething with debates about human nature, programs of moral and educational reform, and battles between conservative and liberal Christians, Freeberg tells this extraordinary tale of mentor and student, scientist and experiment. Under Howe's constant tutelage, Laura voraciously absorbed the world around her, learning to communicate through finger language, as well as to write with confidence. Her remarkable breakthroughs vindicated Howe's faith in the power of education to overcome the most terrible of disabilities. In Howe's hands, Laura's education became an experiment that he hoped would prove his own controversial ideas about the body, mind, and soul. Poignant and hopeful, The Education of Laura Bridgman is both a success story of how a sightless and soundless girl gained contact with an ever-widening world, and also a cautionary tale about the way moral crusades and scientific progress can compromise each other. Anticipating the life of Helen Keller a half-century later, Laura's is a pioneering story of the journey from isolation to accomplishment, as well as a window onto what it means to be human under the most trying conditions.The Fall
By Margaret Jull Costa, Diogo Mainardi. 2012
THE FALL is a memoir like no other. Its 424 short passages match the number of steps taken by Diogo…
Mainardi's son Tito as he walks, with great difficulty, alongside his father through the streets of Venice, the city where a medical mishap during Tito's birth left him with Cerebral Palsy. As they make their way toward the hospital where both their lives changed forever, Mainairdi begins to draw on his knowledge of art and history, seeking to better explain a tragedy that was entirely avoidable. From Marcel Proust to Neil Young, to Sigmund Freud to Humpty Dumpty, to Renaissance Venice and Auschwitz, he charts the trajectory of the Western world, with Tito at its center, showing how his fate has been shaped by the past. Told with disarming simplicity; by turns angry, joyful, and always generous, wise and suprising, THE FALL is an anstonishing book.