[.ca] Planet of the Blind (ISBN 0385333277)

From Amazon.com:
"In the country of the blind," the old adage asserts, "the one-eyed man is king." But in Stephen Kuusisto's superb new memoir, The Planet of the Blind, the world of a one-eyed man is a kingdom of confusion and quixotic struggle. Born with only residual vision, one eye capable of 20/200 vision and the other unseeing, Kuusisto was led by the insistence of his mother and the ignorance of the society around him to an elaborate and harrowing attempt to appear sighted. At times the effort was life-threatening, as with the bicycle he rode from the ages of 10 to 30 ("Were my years of cycling an actuarial gift?" he wonders), and at other times profoundly humiliating, as when his stumblings and collisions are assumed to be signs of habitual drunkenness. Indeed, the almost inconceivable effort of maintaining his sighted masquerade leads to all sorts of self-destructive behavior, from obesity to anorexia, from booze and cigarettes to drugs and perilous clambers up fire escapes. Most biography is a recounting of struggle that leads to success and achievement, but Kuusisto's story is of a lifelong struggle that leads to acceptance. For this gifted poet, the barely glimpsed visual world is an irresistible temptation, despite pain, embarrassment, and failure. When he finally submits to the white cane and a guide dog, suddenly he can envision a "Planet of the Blind," a place where those without sight live in peace with their own lives, where "everyone is free to touch faces, paintings, gardens," a place where beauty is behind the eye of the beholder. --John Longenbaugh

Vivid and moving memoir:
As a legally blind person, who had totally blind parents, this vividly written book went a long way in helping me come to terms with my own situation. Like Stephen, for years I was in denial about my own limited vision and tried, successfully for a time, to "pass" as fully sighted. This is no longer possible and I have to face my own limitations head on, as Stephen finally does. I recommend this book to anyone who would like to understand what living on the "Planet of the Blind" is really like, and for anyone who enjoys beautiful writing.

Very inspiring book EVEN inspires me to want to write:
I was reccommended to read Planet of The Blind due to my interest in writing stories about people who had disabilities and about by own disablility for I'm visually impaired myself and I have an interest in writing. So I read Steven Kuusisto's book Planet of the Blind and found it very facinating and inspiring! I highly reccomend it! I'd love to know what is he doing now and is he still writing and speaking of the book?

The Power of Imagination triumphs the Power of the Senses:
Kuusisto powerful prose reminds one of the awesome power of the imagination in this touching memoir of struggle and finally acceptance. Not a typical movie of the week redemption story, but a hard fought tale of the struggles of the author and his view of himself. We too are then reminded of our own struggle with our own view of ourselves. We travel with the author as he denies his "limitations" and goes through the world as if he can see. Comical in concept, touching in delivery. Its strength reminds us that we should be grateful, and accept the limitations of others and ourselves with grace. Great description of the perils such as curbs, dogs and low hanging branches, what we ignore in our daily lives, reminds us of how much we miss around us. The book also suggests great issues of the demand for perfection in our society, and how we deal with it, or our lack of it. A thoroughly depressing section on his experiences in Finland, serves to those with all our senses how lucky we truly are. This book does what good writing is suppose to do, expand our repetoire of experiences.

Thank you Stephen Kuusisto:
As the mother of two legally blind children, Planet of the Blind is what I have searched for since their birth. The book is both beautifully and painfully written. I feel empowered and enlightened. Not a day goes by that I don't wonder what the world is like for them. As a result of reading Stephen's story I feel I have a better understanding. Thank you Stephen for sharing your story.

Powerful and redemptive:
I read Stephen's book late into the night and then got up and read more in the morning. The book not only brought me new understanding of the world of blindness, it spoke intimately of the journey of self-acceptance. Stephen's story is threaded through with grace, and his language is musical. A deeply spiritual memoir; you will finish it changed.