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Mary M. (Swansea, MA)
Blind Man's Bluff
As a seasoned lover of memoirs I eagerly awaited the arrival of Blind Man's Bluff by James Tate Hill. After reading the short recap provided by First Impressions, Mr. Hill's story seemed honest, intriguing and insightful. And it truly was all of these things!! The machinations the author goes through on a daily basis to avoid detection of his blindness, while at times humorous, are always quite incredible and exhausting! One can only imagine how he felt at the end of his long day. This book is an important story on individual and societal acceptance of disability. And while at times I found the writing a bit
…more tedious/detailed I remained engaged throughout was quite curious to see how Mr. Hill's story ended. (less)James Tate Hill's moving memoir is an excellent case study of what happens when we refuse to accept things as they are and when we are overly invested in other people's opinions. Hill is a problem solver with a sense of humor, but by trying to hide the severity of his vision loss he makes his life much more difficult and isolated than it needs to be. Written with compassion for his younger self, Hill helps the reader fully appreciate the difficulties of living with vision loss and the way technology and friends can help us overcome our limitations.
Jennie R. (Highland, CA)
Interesting, but…
It was all too easy to become distracted from this book, putting it down to do something else. I really wanted to like this one, and although I feel compassion for the boy, and the man he became, he seems self-absorbed to the point it was off-putting. In my opinion, he was a perfect example of the saying "pride goeth before a fall". He did overcome obstacles (though many were of his own making) to become a writer, and I applaud the perseverance it must've taken. I enjoyed the descriptions of the schools he attended, and people he met along the way, however, I don't feel this book would be a good selection for a
…more book club to discuss. (less)I was interested in this book for two reasons: 1)I am a therapist who has worked with the blind and visually impaired, so reading from the client's perspective interested me and 2) I have recently been diagnosed with macular degeneration myself and the story of someone coming to terms with loss of vision captured my attention. The first two-thirds of the book kept my interest, but thereafter I was tempted to skim to the end where (hopefully) the author would find a way to accept and deal with his disability. The relationship with Meredith was a bit hard to follow and the resolution not particularly satisfying,
…more but then this is based on true life not fiction! Not a book I would recommend to a friend. (less)A decade ago I read "Crashing Through: A True Story of Risk, Adventure, and the Man Who Dared to See" written by Robert Kurson about Mike May, blinded at age three, who defied expectations by breaking world records in downhill speed skiing, joining the CIA, and becoming a successful inventor, entrepreneur, and family man. He had never yearned for vision. I found his life story so enthralling that I contacted my local Blind Association to volunteer in the community for others who were vision impaired. I did not have the same emotional reaction to "Blind Man's Bluff" by James Tate Hill. In fact I found this memoir
…more rather unemotional and dry of details. Yes, we learn of the author's diagnosis and his desire to navigate life, undetected by others, with the challenges his diminishing abilities present, but the chapters seemed to provide journal-entry details with true feelings unattached. As a reader I wanted more inspiration from his efforts to achieve. I wanted a clearer picture of the devastation that often presents when life does not easily accommodate a person with disabilities. I wanted to be inspired by the author's spirit to succeed. I wanted to know more about how he discovered the internal will to reinvent daily life to suit a person with vision deficiencies. Clearly the author is now a published writer, but I found myself more interested in the heroics of his parents, Jim and Belinda, who believed in his abilities all along giving him independence long before he had proven the maturity to handle such challenges. I do find his life accomplishments admirable and for that his story has earned 3 stars, but I was left wanting so much more...a clearer understanding of how to succeed without the advantages of full sight. (less)I seldom read memoirs because I always fear they will be irritatingly self-serving. I would not say that about this memoir. I found it a readable, engaging and quick read. Although it gave me some insight into the author's feelings, I lost respect for him as an adult. I have worked with young people with many kinds of disabilities for many years, and I recognize that most people, especially teenagers do not want to feel any different than their peers. Obviously, the author epitomized that feeling, even to the point of putting himself in physical danger when crossing streets where he was unable to see whether or
…more not there were cars approaching. I would say that I was both appalled and dismayed to find that he carried this dangerous denial into adulthood and I understand Meredith's frustration with it. He did accomplish a great deal by sheer determination but did it really give him the life he wanted? He wanted to blend in but an outsiders quickly saw or sensed his difference. If they did not actually know about his blind condition, then, they seemed to find him just odd and they avoided him. He seemed to acknowledge this in one way but refused to see the real remedies despite the fact that he recognized how technology could help him. He did mention his parents' initial support but I would have been interested in hearing more about this. Did they ever really realize how impacted he was by his lack of vision. He does not mention any counseling regarding his blindness. I wonder why that never happened. At the end, I felt pity for him. It appears this is what he was trying so hand to avoid. (less)I so wanted to like this memoir from J. T. Hill. Although there were parts of it that I found quite interesting, in the end the book didn't work for me. Technically, I found the constant switching of the narrative voice between first and second person to be distracting and confusing. But more fundamentally, I was frustrated by the barrier Hill places between himself ands readers. Continuing to be concerned about how other people perceive him, he relates a mostly superficial version of what is a complicated and complex story of a man struggling with the near-loss of his sight and, more fundamentally, with his perception of himself.
Lauri Z. (Washington, DC)
A quick read
This is a memoir written in the first and second person by a man who loses most of his vision in both eyes by the time he turns seventeen. He reflects on his struggle to accept this fate and his decision to hide his blindness from most of the people he interacts with, as well as with those whom he forms intimate relationships. As a self-professed struggling writer he seems to share his story with the reader on multiple levels; both with the goal of actually getting the memoir published, as seen through his documented failures to get works published in the past, and his desire to tell his story.
My sense is that
…more writing it so it was a commercial success took away from the story telling. I didn't understand the author's purpose in switching back and forth between first and second person. Second person storytelling is not a style I have come across very often, and it didn't add anything to the writing.
As a reader I wanted to experience his angst of managing his blindness while living a false narrative. I felt as though he was skimming the surface of his emotions and wrote more about the impact of this omission on his daily life activities and thus his relationships at a given point in time. This definitely left me wanting more and perhaps even manipulated by his desire for commercial success. I began to feel this way when early in the book he began documenting his many fits and starts as an unpublished author.
This book left me with an overarching sense of wanting to congratulate the author for getting the book published. In fact when I read the "blurbs" on the back cover of the book after I read it, I was very surprised by the comments. The quotation I most related to was a reference to the story as "like going out for coffee with your funniest friend". To me this implies a lighthearted casual catch up. And this is exactly how I felt when I finished the book.
I'd recommend the books with a shrug of my shoulders- a quick read but not particularly memorable. (less)
