Virginia C Hamner

I would absolutely recommend this book. Solomon has crafted a book that is astonishing in its scope, brilliant in its observations, and compassionate with its intensely personal material.

The depth of the research and the gentle and compassionate way that Solomon treats his subjects brings an incredible intimacy to each of his topics - deafness, down syndrome, autism, dwarfism, multiple severe disabilities, rape, crime - allowing the listener insight into issues and worlds of horizontal identities that might forever be out of sight to those not touched personally by the issues. His overarching thesis brings the threads of difference and disability together in a way that deeply affects the listener/reader.

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As the mother of a child on the autism spectrum, his discussion of autism was closest to my heart. However, it was in his discussion of the ways in which parenthood and children's identity create complex emotional issues that parents must navigate that I found profoundly moving.

In my opinion, anyone affected by any of the differences or disabilities he discusses would find this book deeply moving. However, it is also my opinion that any parent, or in fact anyone at all, would come away from this work with new perspectives on compassion, understanding, and the nature of identity. For this reason, I think everyone who reads or listens to this work will come away a better person.