Disability, Culture, and Society

Memoir Review

Hornbacher, Mayra. Wasted: A Memoir of Bulimia and Anorexia Nervosa. New York: Harper Perennial, 1999.

Read a memoir by a disabled person or about disability and write a 2-3-page paper (double-spaced, 12-point font). Your review should do the following:

1. Present a concise summary and overview of the memoir.

· What is it about?

· Who wrote it?

· What is the author’s overall perspective, argument, or purpose?

2. Offer a critical assessment of the memoir. Articulate your reactions to the work in relation to course material/class discussions:

· What strikes you as noteworthy, effective or persuasive?

· What extent has it enhanced your understanding of disability?

3. Describe your own personal reaction to the book.

· Did you like it?

· What did you learn about disabilities in the present and the past?

· Would you recommend it to others?

Sample Memoir Review:

Book Review: Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot

John Callahan’s book, Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot, tells the story of a man whose life is gripped by alcoholism. Not only an alcoholic, he is also a quadriplegic after a car accident in which both him and his friend was under the influence. The accident severed his spine and left him in a wheelchair at the age of 21. He used alcohol as a way to medicate for his injury, as he had done throughout his life. His alcohol abuse started at age 14, as a way to deal with his mother abandoning him. Since then, he pushed women in his life away which created a worsening drinking problem. Although, as tragic as his life seemed throughout the book, he wrote it to show he does not need to be pitied or patronized because his life did not end the night he became a quadriplegic. Although he passed away on July 24th, 2010 due to complications from his injury, he would want people to see that his life wasn’t horrible. His book offers hope for people who have suffered a tragedy in their life, and an understanding of disability to those who do not have a disability.

The common themes throughout the book was society’s view of the disabled, the welfare system, and the use of black humor. The use of black humor is incredibly important. Black humor is morbid humor that makes light of a typically taboo subject, such as jokes about disability, religion, race etc. The importance of black humor in Callahan’s book is it makes understanding the disability more comfortable. Black humor allows to maintain the seriousness of the subject matter, but also brings a little humor to a subject that normally makes many people uncomfortable. Even Callahan himself was uncomfortable around those with disabilities. He constantly referred to a mental hospital he worked at as the “Nuthouse” and mentioned in his book about not wanting to meet someone who was disabled as a result of his small town experience with people that had disabilities. Another example of his black humor is when the accident had just happened, and he couldn’t get use to the lack of feeling. All he could feel was his head and his shoulder blades and said he “felt like a floating head” (Callahan 60). His black humor allows for us to laugh with him about subject matters that normally are considered terrible to laugh at, which brings people together. Rather than making it uncomfortable, it makes it easier to talk about. This shows that people with disabilities aren’t all that different from everyone else, and they too are still people who can make light of their disability. By using black humor, it makes it easier for people without disabilities to understand those who have them.

Callahan focuses on the welfare system, and while it has helped him, he points out a few flaws within the system. One of these flaws being as the stereotype that people on welfare are seen as bums and lazy. Not only does society have this view, but he also refers to the staff and administrators of the welfare system who share this common misconception. Those with disabilities who use welfare are seen as individuals who bleed the system, and choose to be on it. The misconception here is welfare actually is designed to keep individuals with disabilities to stay poor. What keeps these individuals on welfare is if someone makes too much money, they lose the benefits of Medicaid. Callahan states he will “need hospitalization from time to time” (176), and thus he needs Medicaid. Many people that have a disability are able to work and earn their own money; however, if they keep this money they will lose Medicaid. The price of Medicaid outweighs the money these individuals make, so they are forced to give their money up or lie about it. In Callahan’s case, he gives it up as he recognizes his life is full of him lying and deceiving others. This was a big character-building moment for Callahan. As a result, he has to stay on welfare and he gives up his money he earned early on in his cartooning career. The lack of understanding of people on welfare and people with disabilities stems from the negative stereotypes that revolve around welfare recipients. The problem isn’t as a result of these individuals, but of a system that makes it very difficult to sustain oneself without its benefits. It shows that the problem doesn’t lie with individuals such as Callahan and provides an understanding on how these stereotypes are false about those with disabilities on welfare.

Society’s view of disability in the book primarily focuses on the medical and moral models. With regards to the medical model, Callahan spends time in a hospital and rehabilitation facilities, dealing with medical professions. At the beginning, they hope for the ability to cure him of his paralysis, but they soon come to find out he will be paralyzed for life. Then they become sad for him, saying there isn’t anything they can do for him and he feels like they are saying “the man clearly felt nothing could be done for me” (Callahan 57), and the man begins to cry for Callahan, stating what a shame it is for a 21-year-old is going to be paralyzed for the rest of his life. The problem with the medical model here is as it focuses on curing the disability, once it is found nothing can be done there is a sense of hopelessness about the medical professional. They view as the patient and their life is essentially over because of this disability. This causes individuals to fear disabilities, as they are seen with the negative image of hopelessness and the end of a quality life. Not only was Callahan’s life not over, but it had barely begun. He later became a cartoonist, dated several different people and had many friends. His disability didn’t end his life, it was just another characteristic. The moral model comes up throughout the entire book, as his disability is a result of God and people are morally responsible for their actions. People harbor this view of people with disability as a result of poor life choices that have angered God, or because the individual hasn’t let God into their life. One individual in the book asked Callahan if he could cure him and told him “Jesus will let me cure you if you have enough faith” (Callahan 59), which places the blame of the disability on the individual. It creates stigmas around disability, labeling the individual as a bad or flawed person who angered God. As a result, people don’t see those people with disabilities as good people, which flaws their understanding of both the individual and the disability.

My own personal reaction to the book is I thought it was amazing. I loved the book as it is very informative, inspiring, and hilarious. John Callahan has a very crude and dark sense of humor in which he puts into his cartoons. He talked about on multiple occasions how people were calling for his head in reaction to some of his cartoons which focus on people with disabilities. How vulgar Callahan can be would put the crudest sailor to shame, as his writing is littered with obscenities. However, rather than it is coming across as immature, it brings a little bit of light to the dark situation. His accident happened in 1972, right when those with disabilities were getting traction in legislation for equality. In 1973, the Rehabilitation Act was passed, which ensured the rights of those with disabilities. Also, in his book Callahan talked about the troubles he had with earning his own money while being on welfare. In class welfare was mentioned a few times, as it is a slightly flawed system that inhibits for someone with a disability to earn their own wage. In Callahan’s case, he was beginning to write cartoons and began selling them to magazines. His began to see moderate success, but it also came with a little fame. The problem was welfare noticed and threatened to take away his benefits if he didn’t hand over his money he had made through his first two years. Even though he believed he could afford his $1,475 a month for bills that are as a result of his injury, not to mention other bills, he would lose Medicaid which is vital to someone with ongoing health needs. In his situation, there was no private health insurer that would sell a health insurance policy to a quadriplegic. I didn’t realize this was a problem decade ago. I only focused on the present, rather than both the present and the past. Even with all the progress made, it seems disheartening after decades this problem still has not been resolved. If you like crude and black humor, you will love this book. Even if you do not, I still recommend this book to anybody because of how inspiring and the new light he shines on the subject of disability. It is a lighthearted and easy to read way to learn directly from someone who has experience in the world of disability.

Work Cited

Callahan, John. Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot. New York: Vintage, 1990. Print