Ryan Knighton

This book has been a nice little pleasure.The author is at first going blind (at 17 while trying out his new driver's license) and then resolves into the acknowledgement that he needs a cane to get by and that he needs other people. The writing is great in that it is not sympathetic or mournful. It is realistic, funny and often insightful especailly in regards to language. He writes about how visual our language is - where people say "over there" or "right here" not realizing he has no idea what they mean. He also was lucky enough to have found a good woman . Their story is part of this memoir as well.… (meer)

Combine equal parts Jim Knipfel and Steven Kuusisto, add a liberal dose of occasionally funny, but often painfully played blind stereotypes, and a dash of Canadian suburbia to taste (careful, it's easy to over-do it). Knighton is "a keen observer of (blind) reality's lesser phenomena." It can be a fine line between charming and annoying when it comes to irreverent humor, but the author steers well-clear of that line, veering only occasionally into truly funny or insightful teritory. I feel like I've read this book too many times before -- the angry/shy/intellectual young man in denial of his vision loss tries to "pass" through blind life's trials , and eventually comes to terms with his blindness. I don’t mean to be unkind, but YAWN.… (meer)