Friday, May 6, 2011

What disabled children teach us

10:35 AM 6 comments

Read today's New York Times book review of Ian Brown's The Boy in The Moon. Ian is contributing a piece to the June issue of BLOOM.

What disabled children teach us

6 comments:

Thanks for pointing us to this review. I am not certain I like it, though. This segment is a bit frustrating: "Nonetheless, for all that and then some, would we assume the care and feeding of Walker Brown? The father’s challenge is insincere. He would not trade his life for any of ours." It just means to me that the reviewer didn't get it...at all. Too bad. Ian Brown is a talented writer and if he can't make someone understand, well, then, there's no hope for that person.

Hi Claire -- Maybe I misinterpreted that part. What I thought the reviewer was saying was that while Ian challenges the general public as to whether they'd be up to the task of this kind of caregiving, Ian in fact doesn't want to trade his life with a child with significant disability.

Did I misunderstand?

Louise...gee, I just went back and re-read the thing about 20 times! I think you are correct...I got caught on the "But still", earlier on, as though it were a dismissal of everything Walker wrote about the benefits of having a kid with severe challenges...and I then interpreted the "insincere" part as though Brown's assertion that he wouldn't trade lives with anyone as insincere (but we know he IS sincere!) OY!! Thanks for setting me straight!

I had already read the review (Rosenblatt's own memoir of the death of his daughter is wonderful)and downloaded it onto my Kindle. Can't wait to read, although every time a book about parenting a child with disabilities is published I feel guilty that my own isn't finished!

I read the review and purchased it to read. I'm about four chapters in now. Already, I can relate to so much of this father's experience. And my baby is only eleven months old. Here's a good interview with Brown I found while poking around on the internet... it's about the Walker and the book. Sounds kind of cheesy but I had a "hello, brother" kind of moment as I watched, as so many of us are in this special club together and can understand one another in a way no one else can.

Oops, forgot to post the interview link!:

http://canadianbookreview.wordpress.com/2010/10/19/the-boy-in-the-moon-by-ian-brown/

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