Sitting Pretty

The View from My Ordinary, Resilient, Disabled Body

By: Rebekah Taussig

Narrated by: Rebekah Taussig

A memoir-in-essays from disability advocate and creator of the Instagram account @sitting_pretty Rebekah Taussig, processing a lifetime of memories to paint a beautiful, nuanced portrait of a body that looks and moves differently than most.

Growing up as a paralyzed girl during the 90s and early 2000s, Rebekah Taussig only saw disability depicted as something monstrous (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), inspirational (Helen Keller), or angelic (Forrest Gump). None of this felt right; and as she got older, she longed for more stories that allowed disability to be complex and ordinary, uncomfortable and fine, painful and fulfilling.

Writing about the rhythms and textures of what it means to live in a body that doesn’t fit, Rebekah reflects on everything from the complications of kindness and charity, living both independently and dependently, experiencing intimacy, and how the pervasiveness of ableism in our everyday media directly translates to everyday life.

Disability affects all of us, directly or indirectly, at one point or another. By exploring this truth in poignant and lyrical essays, Taussig illustrates the need for more stories and more voices to understand the diversity of humanity. Sitting Pretty challenges us as a society to be patient and vigilant, practical and imaginative, kind and relentless, as we set to work to write an entirely different story.

Worth every second and penny--and a world more

Hearing this felt like having an eloquent writer turn my jumble of thoughts and feelings into words

Great book. A must read for everyone

Opened my eyes to ways to create a world more accessible and inclusive for people with disabilities.

Not written like a text book.

One of the more insightful books that discusses ableism. Had me in tears several times, and laughing at others. I highly recommend it.

I feel seen

it is so refreshing to read a book about someone who lives a life somewhat similar to one's own. it was great to hear someone share thoughts and feelings that I have had myself. I also learned that I really do have a whole lot of ableist beliefs and this book is going to motivate me to challenge my own ableist beliefs as well as others.

resiliency in the face of obstacles

its relevancy to me, as a fellow wheelchair dependent woman. We have much in common.