There Plant Eyes

A Personal and Cultural History of Blindness

There Plant Eyes
M Leona Godin
RRP:
NZ$ 37.00
Our Price:
NZ$ 29.60
Paperback
h203 x 132mm - 352pg
30 Aug 2022 US
International import eta 7-19 days
9781984898401
Out Of Stock
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A probing, witty, and deeply insightful history of blindness--in Western culture and literature, and in the author' s own experience--that ranges from Homer to Milton to Braille to Stevie Wonder. M. Leona Godin begins her fascinating, wide-ranging study with an exploration of how the idea of sight is inextricably linked with knowledge and understanding; how "blindness" has, for millennia, been used as a metaphor for ignorance; and how, in metaphorical terms, blindness can also be made to suggest a door to artistic or spiritual transcendence. And she makes clear how all of this has obscured the reality of blindness, as a consequence of which many blind people have to deal not just with their disability but also with expectations of "specialness. " Godin illuminates the often surprising history of both the physiological condition and of the ideas that have attached to it. She incorporates analysis of blindness in art and literature (from King Lear to Star Wars) and in culture (assumptions of the blind as pure and magically wise) with the science of blindness and key developments in accessibility (the white cane, embossed printing, digital technology), and with her own experience of gradually losing sight over the course of three decades. Altogether, she gives us a revelation of the centrality of blindness and vision to humanity' s understanding of itself and the world.
"There Plant Eyes is so graceful, so wise, so effortlessly erudite, I learned something new and took pleasure in every page. All hail its originality, its humanity, and its ' philosophical obsession with diversity in all its complicated and messy glory. ' " --Maggie Nelson, author of The Argonauts"Godin guides readers through the surprising twists and turns in Western blind history, from ancient seers to contemporary scientists. The lively writing style and memorable personal anecdotes are delightful. This book is a gift to both blind and sighted readers. " --Haben Girma, human rights lawyer and author of the best-selling Haben: The Deaf blind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law"This sighted disabled person learned so much from There Plant Eyes! The book took me on a cultural journey that showed how blindness isbeautiful, complex, and brilliant. " --Alice Wong, editor of Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-first Century"Godin moves effortlessly from erudite explorations of the construction of ' blindness' to incisive and often funny examinations of technology that helps--or does not help--the blind individual to personal stories of her own life. I was only a few pages in before I realized that what I thought about being blind was either wrong or woefully insufficient. The reader will be lost in admiration for Godin' s gifts as a writer and cultural critic. " --Riva Lehrer, author of Golem Girl: A Memoir"I' ve been waiting most of my life for a book like There Plant Eyes to demystify what it means and doesn' t mean to be blind. With eloquence and wit, M. Leona Godin articulates what our culture has gotten wrong for centuries. Blindness, she makes clear, is a feature, not merely a difference. I' ll be recommending this book every chance I get. " --James Tate Hill, author of Blind Man' s Bluff: A MemoirWe are inevitably blind to realities outside our own experience, and it takes a sensitive writer like Godin--with her poet' s ear--to give insight into sightlessness. --David Eagleman, neuroscientist at Stanford, author of Livewired
M. LEONA GODIN is a writer, performer, and educator who is blind. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, PLAYBOY, O, The Oprah Magazine, and Catapult, where she writes the column, "A Blind Writer' s Notebook. " She was a 2019 Logan Nonfiction Fellow and has written and produced two theatrical productions- The Star of Happiness, based on Helen Keller' s time performing on vaudeville, and The Spectator & the Blind Man, about the invention of Braille. She founded Aromatica Poetica, an online magazine, as a venue for exploring the arts and sciences of smell and taste, not specifically for, but welcoming to, blind readers and writers. She has lectured on art, accessibility, disability, and technology at such places as NYU' s Tandon School of Engineering, Rice University, and the American Printing House for the Blind.
Status: Indent title, imported to order
ISBN-13: 9781984898401
Published: 30 Aug 2022
Published In: United States
Imprint: Vintage Books
Publisher: Random House USA Inc
Format: Paperback
Height: 203mm
Width: 132mm
Spine: 18mm
Weight: 270g
Pages: 352

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