Planet of the Blind

By: Stephen Kuusisto

Narrated by: Brian Keeler

Blindness in the 1950s was a social stigma. Stephen's mother wanted a normal life for him, so he fought desperately to uphold the illusion of sight. For a child frantic to fit in, each day was an exhausting pretence. He managed to ride a bike, when even reading involved pressing his nose to the page and painfully forcing his eyes to concentrate. Head up, he strode through a carefully memorized labyrinth of streets, hoping to fool passers-by that he could actually see.

©1998 Stephen Kussisto (P)1998 W. F. Howes Ltd

Incredibly inventive and informative memoir

The author grows up in a family that refuses to acknowledge that he is blind. As for all who struggle with both disability and the inability of those around them to comprehend, this brings wonder, and heartbreak, and a very long path to self-acceptance. Kuusisto tells this brilliantly with the skills of a master poet.

Whether watching as he hurtles through streets on a bicycle, or listening to the cruelty as he tries to fully engage the world, or discovering what it's like to accept who you are when others will not, the words in Planet of the Blind will carry you away on a tide of knowledge gain.

full of poetry and insight

a hero's literary and achingly sad, but funny too. full of wit and truth. it will, ironically, open your eyes.

What an eye-opener! (no pun intended)

I feel like I've just taken a crash course in living blindly. There are so many things we never think of when our eyes work.
As I was walking in the woods with my dog, I got to the part about accepting the blindness, and using the walking stick. I loved the reference to the divining rod because water is a natural part of life-as is the stick.
When I heard the words, "And nothing bad happened", I started cheering out there in the woods. "See? Nothing bad happened! Now you're on your way to acceptance!! You've got this!" My dog thinks I'm nuts, I'm sure.
I am from the UP, in Michigan. I'm quite sure our people know each other as I grew up in the Finnish Lutheran church.