Planet of the Blind

"The sensorium of the blind who possess some marginal vision is by turns magical and disturbing," writes poet and educator Stephen Kuusisto. "My eyes dance in a private, rising field of silver threads, teeming greens, roses, and smoke." This is the record of a handicapped life, but it is also an extraordinary literary achievement. Stephen Kuusisto has been legally blind since birth, and in this stunning memoir he has succeeded in translating his opaque, kaleidoscopic world of shape and color into poetic and luminous prose. Brought up to disavow his blindness, Kuusisto spent much of his life trying to pass as a sighted man, traveling everywhere at dizzying speeds without a cane. Still, he writes, he remained ashamed of his "blind self." As a child with bottle-lens glasses, he was ridiculed by his classmates; as an adolescent he struggled first with obesity, then anorexia; as a young adult, in love with reading, he suffered the derision of teachers who felt he could not possibly keep up with his studies. Fueled by his passion for the written word, Kuusisto nonetheless persisted, successfully, in conquering academia--until a devastating accident forced him to acquire the white cane at last. Almost immediately the cane became his "divining rod," but it was only a matter of time before he felt the need for a more powerful ally. Enter Corky, a two-year-old yellow Labrador retriever who became his guiding eyes and changed his life forever.

Biographies & Memoirs

KUUSISTO, Stephen

Arts & Literature

The Dial Press

"The world is a surreal pageant," writes Stephen Kuusisto. "Ahead of me the shapes and colors suggest the sails of Tristan's ship or an elephant's ear floating in air, though in reality it is a middle-aged man in a London Fog rain coat which billows behind him in the April wind." So begins Kuusisto's memoir, Planet of the Blind, a journey through the kaleidoscope geography of the partially-sighted, where everyday encounters become revelations, struggles, or simple triumphs. Not fully blind, not fully sighted, the author lives in what he describes as "the customs-house of the blind", a midway point between vision and blindness that makes possible his unique perception of the world. In this singular memoir, Kuusisto charts the years of a childhood spent behind bottle-lens glasses trying to pass as a normal boy, the depression that brought him from obesity to anorexia, the struggle through high school, college, first love, and sex. Ridiculed by his classmates, his parents in denial, here is the story of a man caught in a perilous world with no one to trust--until a devastating accident forces him to accept his own disability and place his confidence in the one relationship that can reconnect him to the world--the relationship with his guide dog, a golden Labrador retriever named Corky. With Corky at his side, Kuusisto is again awakened to his abilities, his voice as a writer and his own particular place in the world around him. Written with all the emotional precision of poetry, Kuusisto's evocative memoir explores the painful irony of a visually sensitive individual--in love with reading, painting, and the everyday images of the natural world--faced with his gradual descent into blindness. Folded into his own experience is the rich folklore the phenomenon of blindness has inspired throughout history and legend.

Planet of the Blind: A Memoir

Random House Publishing Group

A memoir of blindness and listening rendered with a poet's delight by the author of the acclaimed Planet of the Blind. Blind people are not casual listeners. Blind since birth, Stephen Kuusisto recounts with a poet's sense of detail the surprise that comes when we are actively listening to our surroundings. There is an art to eavesdropping. Like Annie Dillard's An American Childhood or Dorothy Allison's One or Two Things I Know for Sure, Kuusisto's memoir highlights periods of childhood when a writer first becomes aware of his curiosity and imagination. As a boy he listened to Caruso records in his grandmother's attic and spent hours in the New Hampshire woods learning the calls of birds. As a grown man the writer visits cities around the world in order to discover the art of sightseeing by ear. Whether the reader is interested in disability, American poetry, music, travel, or the art of eavesdropping, he or she will find much to hear and even "see" in this unique celebration of a hearing life.

Eavesdropping: A Memoir of Blindness and Listening

Memoirs

W.W.Norton&Company

A memoir of blindness and listening rendered with a poet's delight by the author of the acclaimed Planet of the Blind. Blind people are not casual listeners. Blind since birth, Stephen Kuusisto recounts with a poet's sense of detail the surprise that comes when we are actively listening to our surroundings. There is an art to eavesdropping. Like Annie Dillard's An American Childhood or Dorothy Allison's One or Two Things I Know for Sure, Kuusisto's memoir highlights periods of childhood when a writer first becomes aware of his curiosity and imagination. As a boy he listened to Caruso records in his grandmother's attic and spent hours in the New Hampshire woods learning the calls of birds. As a grown man the writer visits cities around the world in order to discover the art of sightseeing by ear. Whether the reader is interested in disability, American poetry, music, travel, or the art of eavesdropping, he or she will find much to hear and even "see" in this unique celebration of a hearing life.

Planet of the blind

Faber&Faber

Faber and Faber Ltd.

Title: Planet of the Blind Binding: Paperback Author: StephenKuusisto Publisher: Delta

Dial

Planet of the Blind (G K Hall Large Print Book Series)

G.K.Hall & Co.

Planet of the Blind a Memoir

DIAL PRESS

In this erudite and playful primer on the art of conversation Stephen Kuusisto vigorously tackles the slippery subject of how to converse meaningfully with others. Kuusisto employs a wide range of personal anecdotes, classical texts, and an engaging style to illustrate his points. In seven short, provocative and imaginatively wrought chapters, he spins a compelling argument for the joys of being connected,” and skillfully shows how to achieve this bond in everyday exchanges.

Do Not Interrupt: A Playful Take on the Art of Conversation

Literature & Fiction

Essays & Correspondence

Sterling

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Books by KUUSISTO, Stephen