Sitting Pretty by Rebekah Taussig

Title: Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body

Author: Rebekah Taussig PhD

Published: 2020

Genre: Memoir

Grade Level: Adult

-Movie Rating: PG-13

-Features: Physical Disability (being paralyzed)

 

Blurb (from goodreads):

Growing up as a paralyzed girl during the 90s and early 2000s, Rebekah Taussig only saw disability depicted as something monstrous (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), inspirational (Helen Keller), or angelic (Forrest Gump). None of this felt right; and as she got older, she longed for more stories that allowed disability to be complex and ordinary, uncomfortable and fine, painful and fulfilling.

Writing about the rhythms and textures of what it means to live in a body that doesn’t fit, Rebekah reflects on everything from the complications of kindness and charity, living both independently and dependently, experiencing intimacy, and how the pervasiveness of ableism in our everyday media directly translates to everyday life.

Sitting Pretty challenges us as a society to be patient and vigilant, practical and imaginative, kind and relentless, as we set to work to write an entirely different story.

 

Disclaimer: My review of this memoir is not in any way a reflection upon the author or their life. I am a book reviewer, I review books… not people.

My Scores:

Writing Style: Solid

This novel was written less like a memoir and more like an academic paper, which makes sense because acquiring a PhD does require a LOT of academic writing. However, that’s not to say that her writing isn’t conversational, relatable, and highly personal. It’s simply articulate and categorical rather than chronological.  

Taussig doesn’t give a narrative of her life for readers to extrapolate what they will. Instead, Taussig uses examples from her life as a way to extrapolate her own observations and critiques on society.

While I was expecting a narrative, I personally loved reading her observations! Her outrage at Me Before You became mine. Her desire for more narratives like The Fundamentals of Caring and Laughing at my Nightmare became mine.

 

Overall: Totally Obsessed

This is my new all-time favorite book! It’s such an awesome critique on society. Its main purpose is to give you a whole new perspective on those with disabilities or else give you a warm feeling of comradery, encouragement, and hope.

Taussig faces the hard topics head on with a nice balance of genuine emotion and articulate writing. It hit me about as hard as A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

I would recommend it to everyone, especially those wanting nothing more than to be treated like normal.

Messaging: 

If there were more stories featuring people with disabilities the general public wouldn’t behave as overbearing, disgusted, shocked, or awe-struck.

Goodreads Rating: 5 out of 5 stars