false 53638 8 "In the country of the blind," the old adage asserts, "the one-eyed man is king." But in Stephen Kuusisto's superb new memoir, <I>The Planet of the Blind</I>, 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.<p> 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. <I>--John Longenbaugh</I> 52313 book 1997 Planet of the Blind total:84|5:32|4:28|3:18|2:5|1:1| 84 337 127 22 5 1 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Mon Sep 17 23:34:51 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 17 23:46:27 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Aug 26 09:28:57 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 26 09:29:19 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun May 04 16:51:28 -0700 2008 Sat May 10 13:40:33 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Dec 03 22:24:47 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 03 22:28:43 -0800 2008
You'll read some 1,500 odd books before you die. Move this ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jan 30 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 26 14:41:38 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 31 10:42:28 -0800 2009
I recommend it to everyone...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Feb 02 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 02 19:03:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 02 19:03:40 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Mon May 11 16:48:12 -0700 2009 Mon May 11 16:49:44 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Feb 07 09:17:02 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 07 09:17:54 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Tue Jun 30 00:00:00 -0700 1998 Wed Aug 12 20:39:40 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 20:40:29 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu Sep 10 18:34:51 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 10 18:35:52 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sat Apr 18 19:56:29 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 18 19:57:20 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Sep 07 10:47:16 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 07 10:47:31 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Jan 31 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 22 18:26:06 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 23 15:29:31 -0800 2009 The book was alright. It was literally a memoir of just being blind. That's all he focused on. It's almost as if, that is all he his. I could have done without him quoting poems all the time. Maybe it's cute that he is ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 09 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 24 22:21:35 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 09 21:55:40 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Aug 23 08:37:00 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 23 08:37:25 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Mar 24 19:50:23 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 24 19:53:21 -0700 2008 5 1 false false Fri Jun 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 01 08:19:21 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 16 11:59:44 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Jun 28 10:15:02 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 13 15:25:04 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Sun Aug 24 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jan 27 16:21:55 -0800 2008 Thu Sep 25 19:39:09 -0700 2008 ]]> 5 0 false false Sun Sep 21 15:46:44 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 21 15:48:46 -0700 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=53638