Ryan Knighton
Cockeyed (2006)
Author: Ryan Knighton
Genre: Memoir (“Growing through” narrative)
Book Summary:
Ryan was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a “congenital, progressive disease marked by night-blindness, tunnel vision, and eventually, total blindness,” at the age of 19. However, he was too busy being a 19-year-old to care. The author tells of his descent into blindness as well as his becoming a man. Neither one of which he did gracefully or very well at first. Readers will gain insight into what it is like to go blind physically, emotionally, and socially. Some of the events he discusses are driving before he knew he was going blind, navigating punk rock clubs and men’s bathrooms, trying to pass as sighted while teaching English to schoolchildren in Korea, and taking a honeymoon in the salt mines of Poland.
Geographical Setting:Vancouver, Canada
Time Period: The Present: 1987-2006
Appeal Characteristics:
The biggest appeal in this book, declared one of the summer’s hottest reads according to People Magazine, is the fact that it is a memoir. Readers of memoirs tend to love reading about other people’s lives and their memories. Another appeal is the subtle humor the author uses throughout the book. It makes the story and quick read (another appeal) about a guy going blind without hearing a pity party. It may appeal more to people in their 20s and 30s because of the pop culture references and language. The fact that it is about a blind person is also an appeal. It can be an inspiration to those going blind or those who know someone who is blind or going blind.
Read-alikes: For those who like to read stories about the blind with a little whit in them will like Jason Robert’s A Sense of the World: How A Blind Man Became History’s Greatest Traveler. This is a biography about a man in the 1800s who went blind at age 25 but would not let his sudden blindness control his life. He traveled to many places by himself and wrote a bestselling book about those travels. Another story about people who overcame blindness (and deafness) is Helen Keller’s classic autobiography,The Story of My Life. Those who like more contemporary humorous memoirs involving pop culture will like Jancee Dunn’s But Enough About Me: A Jersey Girl’s Unlikely Adventures Among the Absurdly Famous. No Excuses!: The True Story of a Congenital Amputee Who Became a Champion in Wrestling and in Life by Kyle Maynard is one that will appeal to those who like autobiographies of people overcoming physical impairments. Finally, those who just like funny memoirs will enjoy David Sedaris’ Me Talk Pretty One Day.
Red Flags: some occasional language
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