Flying Without Wings: Personal Reflections on Being Disabled

Pay with

About Flying Without Wings: Personal Reflections On Being

Product Description The author describes how polio changed his life, explains how he developed a positive outlook, and discusses the nature of disability From Publishers Weekly Graduated from Stanford Medical School and a tennis champion before his 25th birthday, Beisser was due to report for duty in the armed forces when polio felled him in 1950. Since then, the doctor has lived a full life despite the paralysis, as his lyrical and often funny story reveals. He makes the reader laugh even when discussingwithout rancorindifferent hospital "caretakers." But Beisser has been blessed with the latter, including Rita, his wife of 35 years. Whizzing about in a wheelchair, the author became a psychiatrist and a professor of psychiatry among other notable accomplishments. He speaks to both the disabled and able-bodied here, assuring them that it's a joyful satisfaction to keep moving, ignoring what they lack and using what they have. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal A recent medical school graduate and amateur tennis champion, Beisser at age 24 had everything going for him. Then polio struck--his story opens in the 1950s--and he was confined to an iron lung. Rather than give in to despair, hopelessness, or self-pity, Beisser began to reflect on the meaning of life from the perspective of someone disabled. In this book he shares his insights into time, space, health, humor, and Americans' love of sports. Anyone caring for the disabled or seriously ill should read this book to gain some understanding of what their life is like, but Beisser's story of how he achieved a fulfilling life and happy marriage is an encouragement to us all. Recommended for all general collections, especially those emphasizing the health sciences and helping professions. - John Moryl, Yeshiva Univ. Lib., New York Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.