Being One-Legged Is an Interesting Experience [Paperback]

J. A. Coffeen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 6, 2002

The author tells what it's been like to be one-legged for over ten years. After having had chemotherapy, radiation, and amputation, he chose not to have a prosthesis, but to use a wheelchair at home, and crutches there and wherever else he goes. His adaptations to the condition were remarkably easy. They involved many ways to simplify living for the one-legged, some of which would have been useful when he still had two legs. He debunks the common wisdom that "You have to grieve for a leg", and tells about living with Sharlie, his phantom leg. In addition to the disadvantages of having only one leg, he points out a few real advantages of the condition, like no longer having to sort socks into pairs. He has in general enjoyed the "interesting experience" of the title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

J. A. Coffeen has had an adventurous life. In the seismic search for oil (echo-sounding of underground rock layers), he has lived in many places in the U.S. Midwest, in Canada, Indonesia, and Singapore; in little towns and capital cities. He has worked in the field in heat and cold, desert and forest, waist-deep in swamp, on boats in the Gulf of Mexico and the Java Sea. He has recommended drilling wells in specific places based on his interpretation of seismic data, and had the suspenseful wait while a well was being drilled to see if it would actually discover oil. He has had books published explaining seismic exploration, and later has self-published several books. All that is a lot of adventures. Being one-legged is a new and different one.

Product Details

• Paperback: 233 pages
• Publisher: J.A. & M.H. Coffeen, Grouder Pub (February 6, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0930271076
• ISBN-13: 978-0930271077
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,043,298 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but..., May 17, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Being One-Legged Is an Interesting Experience (Paperback)

This book was interesting in that it provided a good insight as to how a 'one-legged' person adapted after the amputation. Unfortunately, this book was in serious need of an editor, or at the very least, a copyeditor. Though the material overall is interesting and useful, you have to wade through quite a bit of rambling and repetition to get to it. The 'poems' are nothing more than restatements of the previous paragraphs in fragment form. I did like the drawings; they helped me imagine the positions and assistive devices the author used. And I very much admire the author for what he has gone through! I hate mentioning anything negative about this book, because I do appreciate that the author took the time to share his experience. I just wish he had someone edit the book for errors and conciseness.

As a 23 year old hemipelvectomy survivor (had bone cancer in the pelvis, my right leg and hip were amputated), I did find much of the book to be encouraging. My surgery was four months ago, and yet my physical therapist won't let me try crutches, as he believes a one-legged person should not use them. This book has given me the courage to at the very least try them--as the author shows, you never know what will help you best unless you try. I too have opted not to use a prostetic leg, and I found it refreshing to note that I am not the only one who has chosen that path.

I am very glad the author wrote this book, and I do recommend it to anyone who is one-legged, will soon be one-legged, or knows/cares for someone one-legged.