Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body Paperback, English – July 6, 2021
Original price was: $16.99.$9.35Current price is: $9.35.
A memoir-in-essays from disability advocate and creator of the Instagram account @sitting_pretty Rebekah Taussig, processing a lifetime of memories to paint a beautiful, nuanced portrait of a body that looks and moves differently than most.
Growing up as a paralyzed girl during the 90s and early 2000s, Rebekah Taussig only saw disability depicted as something monstrous (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), inspirational (Helen Keller), or angelic (Forrest Gump). None of this felt right; and as she got older, she longed for more stories that allowed disability to be complex and ordinary, uncomfortable and fine, painful and fulfilling.
Writing about the rhythms and textures of what it means to live in a body that doesn’t fit, Rebekah reflects on everything from the complications of kindness and charity, living both independently and dependently, experiencing intimacy, and how the pervasiveness of ableism in our everyday media directly translates to everyday life.
Disability affects all of us, directly or indirectly, at one point or another. By exploring this truth in poignant and lyrical essays, Taussig illustrates the need for more stories and more voices to understand the diversity of humanity. Sitting Pretty challenges us as a society to be patient and vigilant, practical and imaginative, kind and relentless, as we set to work to write an entirely different story.
Publisher : HarperOne
Publication date : July 6, 2021
Language : English
Print length : 256 pages
ISBN-10 : 0062936808
ISBN-13 : 978-0062936806
Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
Dimensions : 5.31 x 0.58 x 8 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #51,067 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #26 in Biographies of People with Disabilities (Books) #259 in Sociology Reference #3,591 in Memoirs (Books)
Customer Reviews: 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 684 ratings var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
12 reviews for Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body Paperback, English – July 6, 2021
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Original price was: $16.99.$9.35Current price is: $9.35.
Stephanie McCall –
Best in Small Doses, at Least for Me–but Wow!
I have a slight disclaimer for this review. I had to enjoy Sitting Pretty in very small doses, a chapter or less at a time. However, that’s for a good reason. Like Rebekah, I have a disability–well, disabilities if you want to get technical. I have cerebral palsy and Asperger’s. Both are mild, but both have impacted my life enough, and kept me out of enough arenas, that being disabled could hurt like mad. It’s never been something I thought of as part of my identity–at least, a good part of it. The essays in Sitting Pretty resonated with me so much, so hard, that I often found myself feeling intense emotions I had to keep back.With that said, I am unbelievably glad I found Sitting Pretty. First of all, even in the #ownvoices movement, disability still doesn’t have enough voices, so kudos on that alone. But Rebekah’s voice is one of the best I could’ve found. She’s relatable, fresh, funny, and in general, someone you want to spend time with. She writes with honesty about the hard parts of disability, such as dealing with direct and soft bigotry or just the hassles of everyday life (ex.: crawling rather than wheeling because well, modifications weren’t there).Additionally, I loved how Rebekah juxtaposed disability with the rest of her journey, such as growing up with siblings “like a box of puppies,” getting married and divorced, and married again. Yes! This is what every woman on earth wants to do, wants to write or talk about, wants to be shown doing. With Sitting Pretty, the narrative is not, “I’m disabled BUT I still do everything you do.” It’s, “I’m disabled AND I do everything you do plus more–and “more” is related to a brilliant identity that not everyone else has, which is cool.”I don’t know if I’ll ever 100% embrace disability as a positive part of me. There’s still a lot of internalized ableism, external ableism, shame, and self-doubt to deal with, among other things. But Sitting Pretty gave me a huge dose of encouragement, just because there are other women like me out there and we are living our lives. Moreover, we can, and should be given the opportunity to, live our lives to the fullest, in any body we have. Thanks again, Rebekah!
LH –
A MUST Read!!
Rebekah Taussig’s book, Sitting Pretty, holds up a mirror and amplifies the nuanced experience of being a disabled woman. As a disabled woman who grew up using a wheelchair, I could relate so wholeheartedly that at moments I had to put the book down, take a deep breath and wipe my tears from my eyes. It is both empowering and painful to read Taussig give eloquence and insight to the tiny grains of hurt from ableism that bore holes in the sidewalks of our belonging. I am blown away by this book! I bought her book for all four of my sisters and husband to read. My mom-in-law and I are going to a book discussion. To truly know and hear me it feels vital to read the words of Taussig. I am so so SO grateful for this book!! It’s my new manual for life!
Adam R Heaslip –
Great book!
Love the book but the pages are out of order and pages are missing. Will try to contact the author or publisher as it is too late to return.
Amazon Customer –
I feel seen and heard
GUYS. Never in my entire life have I ever read a book that has so eloquently put into words many of my own thoughts, feelings, experiences. The way that Tuassig expanded upon topics I didn’t know about was breathtaking. How she was able to link everything together so fluently was beautiful. If anyone ever wants to know of a wheelchair user’s point of view, like myself, this is a PHENOMENAL read. I hope that this can become a book read in classes. It is that valuable to me.
TravellingCari –
poignant yet accessible
Part memoir, part disability justice manifesto. Excellent read on the complex world facing all of us, not just those with visible disabilities. Taussig was the youngest of her siblings when treatment for childhood cancer paralyzed her legs and forced her to learn to navigate a world built for able bodied people. From needing a ramp for her home to being unable to order at a bar because of her height while in a wheelchair, Taussig introduces us to her daily life
Francine Falk-Allen –
Truth teller with humor; perspective on disability
I love Ms Taussig’s voice; honest, uber spunky, and out to let you know what it’s like to live from a wheelchair. An enlightening read, and reflects some of what I’ve learned about how people relate to a disability (I have a physical disability) and how to power through. Parts of it moved me deeply; I felt I’d met a kindred spirit and she expressed some of the more difficult truths I’ve encountered myself, such as the fear of being financially bereft when dependent upon someone else and how that can limit choices. This may be true for many women, but for women with a disability, it’s a predominant issue that hovers over heads.Would love to meet Ms. Taussig, and I think you’ll feel the same!
Nikki R. –
Raw, Honest, and Hopeful
What a fantastic book! As an able bodied person who loves and shares life with disabled people, I am grateful for this read. Taussig does not beat around the bush when it comes to the very real and visceral challenges people with disabilities navigate in this ablist world. She beautifully challenges the reader to first see the world as it is…vastly diverse in body and ability. Then she challenges us to imagine an accessible future. While I recognize that I am only hearing her experience and every person with a disability is unique, I do sense that this book gives me insight and more capacity to empathize and listen to the people in my life who are disabled. Thank you, Rebekah.
Denver Hawkeye –
The best kind of nonfiction
I guard my reading time jealously. I only pry my eyes off the fiction I want to read once in a while to take in some nonfiction. This collection of essays about the issues and difficulties of negotiating today’s society in a wheelchair was well worth the time I sacrificed. This is just over 250 pages, so it’s not a huge time investment. The author is even local to Kansas City. Recommended.
James Henderson –
Creo que esto es un libro muy bueno pero cuando llegue a la mitad de la historia las páginas empezaron a estar desordenadas. Intenté seguirle buscando las páginas correctas pero son tantos que me enfadé y ya no terminé el libro.
N. Hansen –
As a Disability Studies educator. This is one of the best books I’ve ever read! Accessible enlightening and informative
Susi Velasco –
Hard cover version is beautiful and I shared in a book club, the feedbacks was very especially because we don’t see how the disable people feel about our unnecessary help. I and very happy with the book and is very inspiring.
Jenny Lee Green –
I’ve been given this book along with an entire class as a book report for Disability Studies, along with Emily Ladue, I honestly was hoping to hear more of advocating for Inclusion for Universal Accessibility since the book was an assignment.I understand that people with disabilities or individuals with disabilities and destigmatizing the religious and moral model, but it felt like I was reading Rebekah’s personal diary and couldn’t think of how to format my assignment since it was asking what I learned, lots of whining and her points of view on students and people not involved in her daily life, which were parts including going to her husbands party that felt like it merited over important issues in disability inclusion , especially since this book is considered a megaphone for disability’s justice and advocates.This didn’t settle well with me.