The country of the blind a memoir at the end of sight [LP]

"We meet Andrew Leland as he's suspended in the strange liminal state of the soon-to-be blind: He's midway through his life with retinitis pigmentosa, a condition that ushers those who live with it from complete sightedness to complete blindness over a period of years, even decades. He grew up with...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Leland, Andrew (Author)
Format: Books Print Book Large Print
Language:English
Published: [New York] : Random House Large Print, [2023]
Edition:First large print edition.
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Summary:"We meet Andrew Leland as he's suspended in the strange liminal state of the soon-to-be blind: He's midway through his life with retinitis pigmentosa, a condition that ushers those who live with it from complete sightedness to complete blindness over a period of years, even decades. He grew up with full vision, but starting in his teenage years, his sight began to degrade from the outside in, such that he now sees the world as if through a narrow tube. Soon--but without knowing exactly when--he will likely have no vision left. Full of apprehension but also dogged curiosity, Leland embarks on a sweeping exploration of the state of being that awaits him: not only the physical experience of blindness but also its language, internal debates, politics, and customs. He also negotiates his changing relationships with his wife and son, and with his own sense of self, as he moves from sighted to semi-sighted to blind, from his mainstream, "typical" life to one with a disability. Part memoir, part historical and cultural investigation, The Country of the Blind represents Leland's determination not to merely survive this transition, but to grow from it--to seek out and revel in that which makes blindness enlightening. His story reveals essential lessons for all of us, from accepting uncertainty and embracing change to connecting with others across difference. Thought-provoking and brimming with warmth and humor, The Country of the Blind is at once a deeply personal journey and an intellectually exhilarating tour of a way of being that most of us have never paused to consider-and from which we have much to learn"--
Physical Description:xxviii, 428 pages (large print) ; 24 cm
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (pages 371-402) and index.
ISBN:9780593793466
0593793463
Author Notes:Andrew Leland's writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine , The New Yorker , McSweeney's Quarterly , and The San Francisco Chronicle , among other outlets. From 2013-2019, he hosted and produced The Organist , an arts and culture podcast, for KCRW; he has also produced pieces for Radiolab and 99 Percent Invisible . He has been an editor at The Believer since 2003. He lives in western Massachusetts with his wife and son.