RaveColumbia JournalThe collection’s four parts—Being, Becoming, Doing and Connecting—feature the diverse and poignant writing of disabled and chronically ill activists, artists and authors ... They relay a wide array of experiences, each an invaluable glimpse into what it might mean to live with a disability—sometimes multiple disabilities—in an ableist society. The struggles of inhabiting a marginalized body, of navigating the world through it, come alive in each of these accounts, urgent and pressing. The thirty-eight pieces Wong assembled depict not only these struggles, but also the many ways they can be and are overcome—the joy and inherent meaning of being alive ... The truth is, I was deeply moved by more pieces than I could name here.
Ander Monson
PositiveColumbia JournalMonson’s attention to the layering of both physical and emotional landscapes makes his interest in the profound evident throughout the collection ... Monson’s writing, while reaching for what’s beneath, remains close and accessible on the page. His frequent direct address, sincere and casual, communicated something I’ve rarely experienced as a reader—an explicit and genuine interest in reaching out for the reader, any reader, all readers. But this attempt comes with its risks—making unfounded assumptions about the reader such as statements beginning with \'like you,\' which appear in a couple of essays, as though the reader can somehow be known to the author. That said, the different tones of Monson’s voice, speaking on a wide array of subjects between the scholarly and the personal—achieves a great balance throughout the work, a sense of both groundedness and wonder.
