My Body Politic: A Memoir

by Simi Linton

Book Overview

"I read My Body Politic with admiration, sometimes for the pain that all but wept on the page, again for sheer exuberant friendships, for self-discovery, political imagination, and pluck. . . . Wonderful! In a dark time, a gift of hope.
-Daniel Berrigan, S.J.

"The struggles, joys, and political awakening of a firecracker of a narrator. . . . Linton has succeeded in creating a life both rich and enviable. With her crackle, irreverence, and intelligence, it's clear that the author would never be willing to settle. . . . Wholly enjoyable."
-Kirkus Reviews

"Linton is a passionate guide to a world many outsiders, and even insiders, find difficult to navigate. . . . In this volume, she recounts her personal odyssey, from flower child . . . to disability-rights/human rights activist."
-Publishers Weekly

"Witty, original, and political without being politically correct, introducing us to a cast of funny, brave, remarkable characters (including the professional dancer with one leg) who have changed the way that 'walkies' understand disability. By the time Linton tells you about the first time she was dancing in her wheelchair, you will feel like dancing, too."

---Carol Tavris, author of Anger: The Misunderstood Emotion

"This astonishing book has perfect pitch. It is filled with wit and passion. Linton shows us how she learned to 'absorb disability, ' and to pilot a new and interesting body. With verve and wonder, she discovers her body's pleasures, hungers, surprises, hurts, strengths, limits, and uses."
-Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, author of Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring Physical Disability in American Culture and Literature

"An extraordinarily readable account of life in the fast lane... a brilliant autobiography and a great read."
-Sander L. Gilman, author of Fat Boys: A Slim Book

While hitchhiking from Boston to Washington, D.C., in 1971 to protest the war in Vietnam, Simi Linton was involved in a car accident that paralyzed her legs and took the lives of her young husband and her best friend. Her memoir begins with her struggle to regain physical and emotional strength and to resume her life in the world. Then Linton takes us on the road she traveled (with stops in Berkeley, Paris, Havana) and back to her home in Manhattan, as she learns what it means to be a disabled person in America.

Linton eventually completed a Ph.D., remarried, and began teaching at Hunter College. Along the way she became deeply committed to the disability rights movement and to the people she joined forces with. The stories in My Body Politic are populated with richly drawn portraits of Linton's disabled comrades, people of conviction and lusty exuberance who dance, play-and organize--with passion and commitment.

My Body Politic begins in the midst of the turmoil over Vietnam and concludes with a meditation on the U.S. involvement in the current war in Iraq and the war's wounded veterans. While a memoir of the author's gradual political awakening, My Body Politic is filled with adventure, celebration, and rock and roll-Salvador Dali, James Brown, and Jimi Hendrix all make cameo appearances. Linton weaves a tale that shows disability to be an ordinary part of the twists and turns of life and, simultaneously, a unique vantage point on the world.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0472032364
• ISBN13: 9780472032365
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: University of Michigan Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.2" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Another Way To Live With A Spinal Cord Injury.

I would advise the person and the family of the person with a spinal cord injury (SCI) to learn. When you become able to read, that is. I found that I could not read anything at first. Partly because of denial and partly because I was suddenly pluncked down in an alien world, much like the world I had always lived in, just considerably taller. The simplest things I had done before my SCI became incredibly difficult, if they were possible at all. My mind, body and emotions were in such shock that I could not read anything. The information which was given to me became impossible to understand. I didn't ever think that I would just get up and walk, although my dreams were (and still are) full of running, climbing and even flying. I was dealing with pain that cannot be discribed and I got remarkably little help with it. Until my constant pain was somewhat under control, I didn't plan, for the future or even for the next moment. The idea of having some kind of normal life was not even a consideration for me. Just breathing and existing; in an odd sort of way a kind of Zen "being in the moment," was all I could achieve. And it was NOT a form of enlightenment; on the contrary, it was an "indarkenment." So I might not recommend this book for the newly injured. It is possible that it would not make sense, even if the newly injured person were able to read. For someone who is past that first shock and confusion, though, this could be very helpful. It is clear in pointing out that there are as many different people with a SCI as there are people without one. Very clear and helpful in pointing out the main directions which are still available for people with a SCI. Get this book for someone you love, but don't push it. Just make sure it is available and, when the person is really ready, it will be there for them.

For those who want to gain insight into the life of an individual with a disablity

I am happy to recommend this book to anyone who wishes to gain insight into the daily, lifelong challenges faced by individuals with physical disabilities. It is a book which educates without slapping those of us without obvious disabilities in the face using the "you can't possibly understand how it is for me" method of "enlightenment." Instead it allows the reader to peer through a window into Ms. Linton's life, to develop an understanding of the many barriers and related challenges she and others with similar disabilities face related to what most people take for granted: traveling freely throughout one's environment, gaining an education, dancing, making love, making a life. The book educates by engaging the reader in the journey Ms. Linton has taken from her early days as an activist for peace to her later days as an advocate for equality.

A new classic

This is a beautiful book that I couldn't put down once I started reading. Linton's account of her entry into the world of the disabled and her gradual movement toward activism answers questions I've always been afraid to ask. Besides being funny, angry, compassionate, frank, and always interesting--she's a wonderful storyteller. The book reads like a great novel. It's as powerful as James McBride's memoir, The Color of Water, and should become a classic. Read it and you'll see why.

a gem

I innocently picked up this book from the table at a relative's house, read the first page and could not put it down. The story of Simi Linton's internal and external struggles and revelations in a new world are presented in an effective understated tone that treats the reader as a partner in the adventure. Along the way we get to examine our own attitudes about disability. The book is so well written and real that I feel that I have been taken for that 'ride' the little girl asked about (you have to read the book).