Disability Futures

f you saw our recent staff pick of Alison Kafer’s Feminist, Queer, Crip it was only a hint of good things to come… we’re very excited to announce our latest section at Book Culture on 112th: Disability Studies! We’ll be adding more books in the coming weeks but the inaugural section currently features Rosemarie Garland-Thomson’s Staring, an analysis of the visuality of our bodies and our emotions while under the gaze of another; Terry Galloway’s personal story of growing up as a Mean Little Deaf Queer that avoids the tired child-who-overcomes-his/her-disability narrative; and Far From The Tree, Andrew Solomon’s extensive and empathic tome of horizontal identities, the term he uses to designate those who have “an inherent or acquired trait that is foreign to his or her parents and must therefore acquire identity from a peer group.” With a mix of theory, social history, and personal accounts of living with a disability, our disability studies section explores difference while challenging ableism and stigmas of disease, illness, and impairment. Come check it out!