Why I Burned My Book

Paul Longmore is one of the most important writers and thinkers about the phenomenon of being disabled. His cogent, well researched analysis of the prejudices and stereotypes behind social policy and treatment of people with disabilities in the US is enormously helpful to both understand the role of disability but also to craft policy to eliminate disproportionate and negative practices.

Brilliant book by a fabulous writer, historian, activist and educator. Prof Longmore for years has been teaching, writing and championing disability history -- in fact he is just this week receving an award from the American Association of People with Disabilities for his ongoing scholarship and his role as "an intellectual force and passionate spokesperson for all disabled people's right to dignified supports for independent living and self-determination." With solid logic and accessible language (pun intended), he demonstrates how social prejudices and institutional discrimination shape the lives of disabled americans as much--if not more--than any physical frailties or limitations. This work is simply too good to pass up! An excellent introduction to disability history and disability rights -- and a welcome antidote to the willful ignorance evident in the last review by "mipater."

Paul K. Longmore is a historian. He wrote a well reviewed book on George Washington. In 1988, in front of the federal building in Los Angeles, he burned a copy of his book. Longmore saves the essay about the book burning until the end of Why I Burned My Book; Longmore needs to take the reader on a long and instructive journey through the history, imagery, and ethics of disabilities and disability rights so that the reader will understand why someone would burn their own book. Longmore's perspective as a historian with excellent writing skills and a physical disability probably isn't unique, but it certainly makes him more than qualified to write on the history of the disability rights movement. I enjoyed the history essays [which make up slightly less than half the book] the most. I found the essays on assisted suicide to be the most challenging. I support assisted suicide in principle, but I found Longmore's arguments in opposition well stated and troubling, and they've been swirling around my brain ever since I read them. I highly recommend Why I Burned My Book to anyone wanting a deeper understanding of disability and the disability rights movement.