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Post by dolly on May 10, 2011 10:20:15 GMT -5
it seems like a bunch of people are in the process of reading the book (or are planning to) and may not be able to make the chat. there is so much in this book to talk about, i thought i'd just start this thread so it's here and people can comment whenever they want to. merry's post in the 'book club for may' thread seemed like a good place to start. Haven't dipped into my copy for a while, but have been remembering some of my favorite bits just because it's being mentioned: -The Uncle Charlie part - very moving -The almost-knocked-over-by a bus part (charmed life?) and of course the: somehow-being-under-the-bed-while-ex-girlfriend-entertains-new-boyfriend part (bizarre, a bit tragic, but nonetheless hilarious) Just made myself want to pull it out and read it again now... (i hope you don't mind me copying your comments to this thread, merry. if you do, let me know and i will delete.) |
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Post by dolly on May 10, 2011 10:30:46 GMT -5
-The almost-knocked-over-by a bus part (charmed life?) that was crazy. and having to explain to the medics that he was paralyzed previously, not from the bus! and realizing that he needed the ambulance to take him home, even though he wasn't actually hurt. and of course the: somehow-being-under-the-bed-while-ex-girlfriend-entertains-new-boyfriend part (bizarre, a bit tragic, but nonetheless hilarious) omg, merry. i just re-read that part last night, in a public place, and was laughing *out loud* the entire time. i couldn't stop! the description of that escapade was just so hilarious. considering i've read the book a few times previously... still making me laugh that hard is an impressive feat. also the wheeling out to the road drunk and naked on new years eve and winding up in the ditch. that was a bit of a classic too. oh, and the time when he was young and recently injured when he got trapped by the furniture at the girl's home when her mother came home and found him in her bed with her daughter... lol |
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Post by ruthmadison on May 10, 2011 12:24:01 GMT -5
Rereading it was a strange experience for me. I read it shortly after it first came out, so I was about 15 years old. I knew very little about sex and somehow I went through the whole book without learning much.
I think it was one of the very first memoirs of a disabled man I read, so it formed a lot of my thoughts and beliefs about disability rights and gave me my first understanding of it.
Yet I somehow blocked out or my mind glossed past all the parts where he was naked, all the parts about sex, and all the parts about catheters. Stuff I wasn't ready for, I guess. I have zero memory of any of that, and I do remember learning about that much, much later from other sources.
I clearly remembered his description of riding the donkey. I remembered that he was at NPR. Very little else was familiar in the book!
All these "classic" parts were too much for my fragile little mind to handle back then.
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Post by devogirl on May 11, 2011 12:13:36 GMT -5
Thanks to everyone who joined in the skype chat! I was worried it might only be a few people, but it was one of the biggest groups yet, around 12 I think. As usual we spent a lot of time talking about other things but there was some more discussion of the book.
I know I mentioned this before, but that scene where he hides under the bed was more creepy than funny to me. Maybe because I identified more with the woman, if I discovered my ex under the bed I would call the cops and take out a restraining order. And signing his name on the bed along with a note "you never came"--seriously, that's some fucked-up stalkerish behavior. On the other hand, I have to respect him for including things like this that don't make him look good.
One interesting question that didn't come up before was what Hockenberry thinks of devs. Does he even know we exist? Maybe, someone pointed out that being such a public figure, probably someone has told him about it. But what would he think of us reading and discussing his book? I think he would hate it, but maybe I'm just paranoid. Several people mentioned skipping over the political parts to get to the parts where he talks about disability. I'm sure this is not how most people who know him from NPR or CNN read it.
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Post by ruthmadison on May 11, 2011 12:35:22 GMT -5
Thanks to everyone who joined in the skype chat! I was worried it might only be a few people, but it was one of the biggest groups yet, around 12 I think. As usual we spent a lot of time talking about other things but there was some more discussion of the book. I know I mentioned this before, but that scene where he hides under the bed was more creepy than funny to me. Maybe because I identified more with the woman, if I discovered my ex under the bed I would call the cops and take out a restraining order. And signing his name on the bed along with a note "you never came"--seriously, that's some f*cked-up stalkerish behavior. On the other hand, I have to respect him for including things like this that don't make him look good. One interesting question that didn't come up before was what Hockenberry thinks of devs. Does he even know we exist? Maybe, someone pointed out that being such a public figure, probably someone has told him about it. But what would he think of us reading and discussing his book? I think he would hate it, but maybe I'm just paranoid. Several people mentioned skipping over the political parts to get to the parts where he talks about disability. I'm sure this is not how most people who know him from NPR or CNN read it. 12?! Wow. I'm really sad I missed the discussion, I do love gossiping  I agree that hiding under the bed was very weird and creepy. And I also respect him for actually putting something in that doesn't paint him in a great light. I also think that, based on what I know of him from this book alone, I think he would have a problem with devs. But who knows? People can surprise you! I read all the politics parts! I found that he wove disability through almost all of it. Even the few parts that were actually about unrest in the Middle East were profoundly relevant to our current times and I thought he spoke about those issue very eloquently. |
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Post by merry on May 11, 2011 14:35:10 GMT -5
OK now I'm really going to have to dig out the book. I thought that he ended up under the bed more out of a chicken-hearted escape to not be seen, than for any creepy reasons. You've got me intrigued. I'm like Ruth. I love the way his disability and thoughts about it (as a strong and integral part of his identity) colour pretty much everything he discusses somehow (even it's just less of a tendency to "label" people). For that reason I suspect if he were presented with some REAL information on devoteeism (e.g. it were suggested to him he might like to browse through the messages on this board, or read Ruth's book) he would possibly be quite positive. He SEEMS like quite an open-minded kind of guy. Anyone got the guts to make the suggestion to him?  |
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Post by ruthmadison on May 11, 2011 15:04:01 GMT -5
OK now I'm really going to have to dig out the book. I thought that he ended up under the bed more out of a chicken-hearted escape to not be seen, than for any creepy reasons. You've got me intrigued. I'm like Ruth. I love the way his disability and thoughts about it (as a strong and integral part of his identity) colour pretty much everything he discusses somehow (even it's just less of a tendency to "label" people). For that reason I suspect if he were presented with some REAL information on devoteeism (e.g. it were suggested to him he might like to browse through the messages on this board, or read Ruth's book) he would possibly be quite positive. He SEEMS like quite an open-minded kind of guy. Anyone got the guts to make the suggestion to him? I've been emailing with the guy who writes the awesome Bad Cripple blog and he went to see Hockenberry speak recently! If I can figure out a way to get in touch with Hockenberry, I will ask his opinion  |
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Post by dolly on May 11, 2011 17:21:36 GMT -5
I know I mentioned this before, but that scene where he hides under the bed was more creepy than funny to me. Maybe because I identified more with the woman, if I discovered my ex under the bed I would call the cops and take out a restraining order. And signing his name on the bed along with a note "you never came"--seriously, that's some f*cked-up stalkerish behavior. On the other hand, I have to respect him for including things like this that don't make him look good. interesting. the idea of him being under the bed all night and listening *is* definitely creepy. and that wasn't lost on me. however, the reason he ended up down there seemed to be without creepy intent and that scenario was described in such a humourous way that i guess the ludicrous and bizarre won out over the creepy aspect for me. it seemed like a bad decision that he'd made in a split second that there was just no graceful way out of. (not that i believe that staying there was the most appropriate course of action!) also the girlfriend sort of came acrosss as the type that wouldn't have been too bothered by it. or surprised. that probably played a factor in the way i interpreted it, too. valid points though, devogirl. i'm just actually kind of interested that i found it so darned funny because my 'default setting' would normally be to see it exactly as you did.... but yet, i laugh every time.... |
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Post by dolly on May 11, 2011 17:25:21 GMT -5
and ya, my gut feeling is that john hockenberry would not think too highly of the idea of devs. i'd be happily surprised if that were not the case, however. and i have to admit i'm kind of curious...
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