Waist-High in the World: A Life Among the Nondisabled

Graceful yet gritty paradoxes drive this extraordinary book, which uses the author's degenerative disease, multiple sclerosis, as a window into a very particular soul. . . . Let the reader understand: this is not a book about MS, or about illness; rather, it's a chronicle of inspired adaptation, spiritual as well as physical, to limits. The aim is the creation of joy. -Sallie Bingham, The New Mexican"Woe is not her, as she makes clear throughout this absorbing, laceratingly honest book. . . . This social construction of disability . . . is what Mairs most wants us to 'get' in this passionate, penetrating book-and then get over." -Marian Sandmeier, The Washington Post Book World"Vintage Mairs: sharply observed, deeply personal and always direct." -Michael Haederle, Los Angeles Times"As helpful as Mairs's book will be to disabled people, what's most important about it is its lessons for able-bodied readers." -Kathi Wolfe, The Progressive"Rich, startling and utterly absorbing." -Kirkus Reviews, starred review"Mairs's physical view of the world may be waist-high, but her intellectual and spiritual range is limitless." -Donna Seaman, Booklist, starred review"'One sharp instrument is left me: my tongue.' This [Mairs] wields like a finely crafted baton, leading her readers to an ever deeper understanding of the human condition." -Yvonne Duffy, Detroit Free Press