Published 2020. Finished February 9th, 2026.
Obviously this anthology is worth your time. The stories of disabled people, told by them in their own words, generally while they still live, are rarely so uplifted. As an anthology, of course it's going to be hit-or-miss, though the misses aren't total failures like they might be in a less carefully-curated volume. The hits are very solid and tackle weighty subjects head-on and with blunt grace.
The truth is that I, on a personal level, not a political one, have complex and tangled feelings about disability. Despite being too sick to work for nearing two years, I struggle to claim the label. And truthfully, reading about the individuals in this anthology didn't change that. They think about themselves and their bodies and minds and communities and the world differently than I do --- and most of them have jobs! There was no one in this book like me. And that's okay. There is no way to make a collection of thirty-seven essays encapsulate the broad spectrum of disabled people and life in the West (because make no mistake, this is a Western-oriented book). And really, I should've gone into it with the goal of broadening my understanding of what disabled life is like and what struggles disabled people face, not with the goal of finding a story I could relate to. Learn from me and be a little less selfish when you pick this up.
Rest in peace Alice Wong (1974-2025).
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