Disability Visibility

First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century

by Alice Wong

paperback, 336 pages

Published June 30, 2020 by Vintage.

(4 reviews)

A groundbreaking collection of first-person writing on the joys and challenges of the modern disability experience: Disability Visibility brings together the voices of activists, authors, lawyers, politicians, artists, and everyday people whose daily lives are, in the words of playwright Neil Marcus, “an art…an ingenious way to live.” A Vintage Books Original.

According to the last census, one in five people in the United States lives with a disability. Some are visible, some are hidden—but all are underrepresented in media and popular culture. Now, just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, activist Alice Wong brings together an urgent, galvanizing collection of personal essays by contemporary disabled writers. There is Harriet McBryde Johnson’s “Unspeakable Conversations,” which describes her famous debate with Princeton philosopher Peter Singer over her own personhood. There is columnist s. e. smith’s celebratory review of a work of theater by disabled performers. There are original pieces by up-and-coming authors like Keah Brown and Haben Girma. There are blog posts, manifestos, eulogies, and testimonies to Congress. Taken together, this anthology gives a glimpse of the vast richness and complexity of the disabled experience, highlighting the passions, talents, and everyday lives of this community. It invites readers to question their own assumptions and understandings. It celebrates and documents disability culture in the now. It looks to the future and past with hope and love.

3 editions

pixouls@bookwyrm.social reviewed Disability Visibility by Alice Wong

a medicine of sorts

4 stars

I listened to this book as an audio book. I have been interested in Alice Wong's works for a long time, though you don't hear too much from them personally in the book. For some stories, I wasn't sure why I was listening. Some authors I was familiar with and were going over topics or summaries of their work I'd already read. It didn't help that the narrator made it very hard to tell stories apart and some things were just blending together. As Pretense mentioned in their review: I did not find the different sections meaningful. At other points, the things that I was listening felt very pertinent to where I'm sitting in my life, really struck me. I think different parts of this book can be very meaningful for different people to find healing and feel perceived by someone who shares their experiences. The book has caused me …

loppear reviewed Disability Visibility by Alice Wong

well worth it

4 stars

Inspiring and frank collection covering such a swath of disabilities and their lived experience and range of attitudes towards hope, exhaustion, justice, determination, bodily functions, love, anger. Essays of bluntly banal revelation as well as activism. Eye opening as promised in the title.

reading anarchist reviewed Disability Visibility by Alice Wong

Amazing anthology

5 stars

Can only recommend. Never read such a diverse anthology, so many topics to reflect on. Also liked that the essays had content warnings so you can decide if you wanna engage with it or not.

christa reviewed Disability Visibility by Alice Wong

must read collection of essays on disability by disabled folks

5 stars

a wide-ranging collection of essays from disabled folks about their lives, experience with disability and ableism, and activism. there's variety in the experiences, identities, and topics represented, and I felt the collection is well-edited (notable, because anthologies are hard!). gave me a lot to think about and reflect on. I think this is a great introduction to disability justice, and there's also a bunch of resources in the back for further reading, viewing, listening. looking forward to digging into them.