My Body Politic
University of Michigan Press, 2006
QUOTE FROM BOOK
Hear Simi Linton read a short excerpt from My Body Politichere. [.wav link to come]
Simi Linton travels widely to do readings and book signings and, more recently, to perform My Body Politic: An Illustrated History.
About the book
Buy a copy of the book [linkto: ]
Excerpt from My Body Politic [linkto: PDF DOCUMENT]
Reviews of My Body Politic
Recent events for My Body Politic[linkto: SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS]
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About My Body Politic: An Illustrated History
About the book
Hitchhiking from Boston to Washington, DC in 1971 to protest the war in Vietnam, Simi Linton was injured in a car accident that paralyzed her legs and took the lives of her young husband and her best friend.
My Body Politic opens with her struggle to resume a life in the world. She then takes us along on the road she traveled – with stops in Berkeley, Paris, Havana, and back to her home in Manhattan – as she learns what it means to be a disabled person in America.
Along the way she completed a PhD, remarried, and became deeply committed to the disability rights movement. The book is populated with richly drawn portraits of Linton’s disabled comrades, people of conviction and lusty exuberance who dance, play – and organize – with passion and commitment.
Simi Linton’s story begins in the midst of the turmoil over Vietnam and concludes with a meditation on the war in Iraq, and our wounded veterans. Her story is as much a cultural as a political one, and so she reveals close encounters with Jimi Hendrix, Salvador Dali and James Brown, and then, as she becomes immersed in disability culture, introduces us to an exciting cast of disabled actors, writer, painters and dancers who inhabit her world.
My Body Politic weaves a tale that shows disability to be an ordinary part of the twists and turns of life, and simultaneously, a unique vantage point on the world.
Reviews of My Body Politic
"The struggles, joys, and political awakening of a firecracker of a narrator. . . . Linton has succeeded in creating a life both rich and enviable. With her crackle, irreverence, and intelligence, it's clear that the author would never be willing to settle. . . . Wholly enjoyable."
-Kirkus Reviews
"Linton is a passionate guide to a world many outsiders, and even insiders, find difficult to navigate. . . . In this volume, she recounts her personal odyssey, from flower child . . . to disability-rights/human rights activist."
-Publishers Weekly
“The disability-rights activist leads an illuminating tour of the country of the disabled.”
-People magazine Picks&Pans Books - Great Reads
“Linton takes readers through rehabilitation and the decades that followed, emphasizing her growing awareness of how the community of disabled people is "hidden" from mainstream society. She intertwines her story with those of disabled people who inspired her, such as Glenn, who showed her that dancing need not be restricted to those who
can walk. … Required for both public and academic libraries, especially those with psychology or education collections.”
-Library Journal (starred review)
"I read My Body Politic with admiration, sometimes for the pain that all but wept on the page, again for sheer exuberant friendships, for self-discovery, political imagination, and pluck. . . . Wonderful! In a dark time, a gift of hope.
-Daniel Berrigan, S.J.
"Witty, original, and political without being politically correct, introducing us to a cast of funny, brave, remarkable characters (including the professional dancer with one leg) who have changed the way that 'walkies' understand disability. By the time Linton tells you about the first time she was dancing in her wheelchair, you will feel like dancing, too."
-Carol Tavris, author of Anger: The Misunderstood Emotion
"This astonishing book has perfect pitch. It is filled with wit and passion. Linton shows us how she learned to 'absorb disability,' and to pilot a new and interesting body. With verve and wonder, she discovers her body's pleasures, hungers, surprises, hurts, strengths, limits, and uses."
-Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, author of Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring Physical Disability in American Culture and Literature
"An extraordinarily readable account of life in the fast lane... a brilliant autobiography and a great read."
-Sander L. Gilman, author of Fat Boys: A Slim Book
Amazon.com reader comments include: [linkto: ]
“This is a beautiful book that I couldn't put down once I started reading. Linton's account of her entry into the world of the disabled and her gradual movement toward activism answers questions I've always been afraid to ask. Besides being funny, angry, compassionate, frank, and always interesting--she's a wonderful storyteller. The book reads like a great novel. It's as powerful as James McBride's memoir, The Color of Water, and should become a classic. Read it and you'll see why.”
“I innocently picked up this book from the table at a relative's house, read the first page and could not put it down. The story of Simi Linton's internal and external struggles and revelations in a new world are presented in an effective understated tone that treats the reader as a partner in the adventure. Along the way we get to examine our own attitudes about disability. The book is so well written and real that I feel that I have been taken for that 'ride' the little girl asked about (you have to read the book).”
About My Body Politic: An Illustrated History
Simi Linton is currently booking a tour of a theatrical/multi-media adaptation of her memoir, a piece titled: My Body Politic: An Illustrated History. The work embeds a personal narrative of the lived experience of disability within its social and political context (Act One), and its artistic and cultural context (Act Two).