I don't know why I put off reading this one for so long! It had been recommended multiple times, but it wasn't until I saw that the author was coming to an event near me that I finally started the audiobook. I was absolutely transfixed from page one. I finished this memoir in record time, as I am typically a slow reader of nonfiction work (as evidenced by the very short memoir that I've has been sitting on my bedside table for 3 months). Leland tells an incredible story, intertwining his own experiences with lessons on disability history, blind culture, and medical anatomy. Even as someone deeply steeped in disability culture and understanding, I learned new things about blindness and blind culture. Most impressive, however, is the way Leland discusses his own internal struggles as he comes to terms with an identity of blind and disables. Is he blind enough? Is he disabled enough? At what point can he claim these terms as his own without being appropriative? Does he even want to claim either of these terms? I found myself in the pages, as I have dealt with fluctuating mobility issues and find my own identity often in flux. The grace he gives his wife as she struggles to find the right things to say is both beautiful and entirely human. There aren't many memoirs that make me think "wow, I wish this book were longer," but this one certainly did. An absolute must-read for anyone who enjoys memoirs.

Listened to the audiobook and would recommend the format for this title

Recently I’ve been interested in expanding my (relatively shallow) understanding of different political identities and social struggles to include disabled bodies and disability studies. This memoir couldn’t have been a better first book for me to pick up, as Leland himself with his gradually deteriorating sight is also traveling into “the country of the blind”. The memoir is intimate, but also such an intellectually stimulating and delicious read given the expansive aspects of the life of the blind the author is researching and reporting in this book: from history, phenomenology and philosophy, political groups, intersecting social struggles, to tech innovation, medical research, and different relationships with disability and blindness. To a “blindless” (!!) person like me, Leland’s eloquent writing and charming voice has provided a full immersive and enjoyable experience into “the country of the blind”. And even though it is only fair that given the topic of blindness that I listened to him read out his writing and experience, I could not wait to have a physical copy of the book and pick up others on the topic of disability. Did you know July is Disability Pride Month?