Sipping Dom Pérignon Through a Straw

Reimagining Success as a Disabled Achiever

By: Eddie Ndopu

Narrated by: Eddie Ndopu

Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

A memoir penned with one good finger, Ndopu writes about being profoundly disabled and profoundly successful

Global humanitarian Eddie Ndopu was born with spinal muscular atrophy, a rare degenerative motor neuron disease affecting his mobility. He was told that he wouldn’t live beyond age five and yet, Ndopu thrived. He grew up loving pop music, lip syncing the latest hits, and watching The Bold and the Beautiful for the haute couture, and was the only wheelchair user at his school, where he flourished academically. By his late teens, he had become a sought after speaker, travelling the world to address audiences about disability justice.

Ndopu was ecstatic when he was later accepted on a full scholarship into one of the world's most prestigious schools, Oxford University. But he soon learns that it's not just the medical community he must thwart—it's the educational one too.

In Sipping Dom Pérignon Through a Straw, we follow Ndopu, sporting his oversized, bejewelled sunglasses, as he scales the mountain of success, only to find exclusion, discrimination, and neglect waiting for him on the other side. Like every other student, Ndopu tries to keep up appearances—dashing to and from his public policy lectures before meeting for cocktails with his squad, all while campaigning to become student body president. Privately, however, Ndopu faces obstacles that are all too familiar to people with disabilities, yet remain unnoticed by most people. With the revolving door of care aides, hefty bills, and a lack of support from the university, Ndopu feels alienated by his environment. As he soars professionally, sipping champagne with world leaders, he continues to feel the loneliness and pressure of being the only one in the room. Determined to carve out his place in the world, he must challenge bias at the highest echelons of power and prestige. But as the pressure mounts, Ndopu must find his stride or collapse under the crushing weight of ableism.

Written with his one good finger, this evocative, searing, and vulnerable prose will leave you spellbound by Ndopu’s remarkable journey to reach beyond ableism, reminding us of our own capacity for resilience.

©2023 Eddie Ndopu (P)2023 Legacy Lit

Critic reviews

"As Ndopu deftly shares his life story, he chronicles memorable moments of awe and inspiration as well as dismay and embarrassment at the persistent ways that ableism has made his rise so difficult. One of Ndopu’s greatest strengths as an author is his ability to carry any reader as a collaborator and confidant without neglecting the appropriate indictments of the countless slights, assumptions, and micro- and macroaggressions that he faces. . . . An unflinching memoir of determined self-actualization.”—Kirkus

“Sipping Dom Perignon Through a Straw is essential reading for anyone who’s ever wondered how they can do right and do better by disabled people. Eddie has provided a template for allyship while remaining uncompromising in his self-worth. He is a masterful writer poised for even more great success.”—Forest Whitaker

“I have seen Eddie when he was still a teenager and walked alongside him as he demonstrated to the world that one need not yield their extraordinary power to the limits placed on their ability. Now, as an author, Eddie brings us into his reality—one filled fun and love yet oversaturated with barriers and challenges. Nestled in these expressive pages is a crucial lesson on the importance of humanity, the need for radical, comprehensive person-first care.”—Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum

Enraging! An essential read

Learning about Ndopu’s struggles to get his education as ableist barrier after ableist barrier stood in his way is enraging! I’m so glad this book and most importantly this human exists. I hope he keeps writing about his fabulous life.

Next Level

Eddie’s story telling ability is next level. His words transporting you to those exact moments in time. I smiled. I shed tears. Eddie deepened my understanding of our ableist world. We have work to do.