Customer Reviews

The History of My Shoes and the Evolution of Darwin's Theory

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It's hard to imagine how such a through examination of evolution and it's effects on culture, mingled with a series of small refelctions of a life with special shoes (many pairs of special shoes) can be compressed into 200 or so pages of crystal clear, smooth and easy prose. This is a beautiful and profound book.

The compelling images in Kenny Fries' History of My Shoes remained with me long after I closed its covers. This is the story of a five-foot-tall man born without fibulae in both legs who rafts through the Grand Canyon, visits Buddhist temples in Thailand, climbs Beehive Mountain in Maine, and uses his cane to flick off a cactus flower to feed a hungry iguana on the Galapagos Islands. As compelling as the story is, even more compelling are the questions Fries raises about difference, disability, adaptation, and community. Never preachy, consistently generous, written in prose that is both simple and poetic, History of My Shoes is an exercise in mind-expansion and an experience of beauty. I also enjoyed the ink drwaings at the head of each chapter, which gave the book the feel of a naturalists' record such as Darwin or Wallace might have sketched. Get this book and read it.

What a gorgeously strange book this is! The story of Darwin's theory on one hand, and on the other the tale of one man living in a world that is adapted to bodies just slightly different than his own, and yet living more fully than most of us do. This book can't be classified, except as moving and extremely smart. The questions that the author asks of himself, and of our assumptions about what is normal and valuable, make this book a must read. Pass the word to your friends and family - don't miss this one!

Kenny Fries brings together two seemingly unrelated threads - the
development of Darwin's theory and Fries' journey to live a full life
on his own terms. The contrast between these two stories offers
surprising insights into the very human process behind the development
of the theory of evolution and the author's own life. Fries writes
with clarity and grace. Highly recommended.

Kenny Fries' book is one of the best books I've read this year. It is fascinating, moving, funny. I immediately went back and re-read some chapters, which is something I never do. (I usually have such a large pile of books "to be read" that as soon as I finish one -- no matter how good -- I move on to the next one!) But Kenny Fries' book is hard to put down, hard to walk away from and impossible to forget. Highly recommended!

If you walk a mile in the shoes of Kenny Fries, you're apt to end up atop a granite mountain in Maine, inside a Buddhist temple in Thailand, on a gravel shoal at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, or on one of the Galapagos Islands.

You'd also be walking in shoes specially-molded for your feet, the sole of one built up three inches higher than the other to compensate for the uneven length of your legs.

To walk a mile in the shoes of Kenny Fries, you first have to understand the history of those shoes.

Fries' new memoir explores that history but does so in a rich, relevant, and thought-provoking way. "The History of My Shoes and the Evolution of Darwin's Theory" intertwines the story of Fries' disability with the stories of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace--the fathers of the theory of evolution--and their quest to understand the role of adaptation in the natural world.

Fries was born missing most of the bones in his legs. He has no ankles. He's missing toes. His right foot juts out from his leg at almost a ninety-degree angle. "There was no scientific explanation for this situation; no medical name for the condition," he writes.

Yet, through surgeries, with the encouragement of his parents and doctors, and with custom-made shoes, Fries learned to walk.

Just as his shoes literally help him get around in life, they also help him cover a lot of territory in his book. They serve as a powerful symbol of not only his disability but also his adaptability, the concept that sits at the crux of the book.

That's why Darwin and Wallace become so important to the larger narrative. Fries writes about their lives, their research, and their legacies with clarity and obvious respect. It's a fascinating "Intro to Evolution" for the unsciencely without boiling Darwin down to mere pithy phrases like "adapt or perish" or "survival of the fittest"--a phrase, incidentally, that Darwin didn't actually coin.

According to the theory of evolution, an individual born "different" than other individuals of the same species may hold an adaptation that increases the likelihood of long-term survival for the entire species. In other words, different is good. Variation is, in the grand scheme of things, crucial.

In that context, Fries' own process of self-reflection and discovery--his own personal evolution--take on a profound depth and insight.

"What we learn by adaptability may tell us more about the natural ways in which all of us can best flourish in an increasingly interdependent, complex, and confusing world," he writes.

To lesser degrees, Fries also explores the notion of adaptability and "normalness" by discussing his homosexuality and his Jewishness. They prove to be important components of his process of discovery because, as minority groups, homosexuals and Jews have been marginalized in ways similar to and different from people with disabilities. When Fries asks, "What role does fear play in how we think and act in the presence of variation?" the question suddenly resonates on many powerful levels.

Throughout the book, Fries achieves a narrative voice that's both strong and poetic. He gives us glimpses of his vulnerability but never comes across as "poor disabled me." Stories from the past are colored from his present awareness that he's immersed in a process of "becoming." Similarly, there is a sense of curiosity and wonder about that process and about the world in general.

"The History of My Shoes..." is simultaneously introspective and enlightening. For those readers who take the time to learn the history, they'll get a much better idea of what it would be like to walk in those shoes--and they might better understand just how wide the world is they're walking in.

"The History of My Shoes" is a poet's eye look at Darwin's world of ideas and it is simultaneously a book about inhabiting a body that requires hourly adaptations both of mind and of physical practice. This is a narrative that works against method as Darwin once worked against method and the rewards are manifested on page after page. This is a groundbreaking book for those who are interested in the history of ideas and the corresponding history of the human body.

~ Stephen Kuusisto

I have to admit to feeling not a little ashamed of myself while reading these life-affirming vignettes. I have been taught not to judge my insides by someone else's outsides; people can "look" pretty damn good, but be all messed up inside. Well, the reverse is true in this gem quality book by poet Kenny Fries. Gay, Jewish and physically handicapped (but by no means disabled), the author simply looks upon himself as normal, no different from anyone else. He views his physical handicap as an obstacle to overcome, not unlike anti-Semitism and homophobia, and certainly not a limitation. he climbs mountains, rafts down the Colorado, publishes acclaimed poetry and travels the world on exotic nature expeditions. So, why am I ashamed? Because, I'm able bodied and "choose" to sit on my pity-pot and bellyache about all the things I don't have and can't do, while Kenny Fries is out there persuing life's grand adventure.

Mr. Fries is a Darwin scholar; the entire premise of this uniquely rendered work is that each of us as individuals are presented with challenges in life (not "just" physical), and that the key to our success or happiness lies within our willingness and ability to adapt. Thus even the theory of "survival of the fittest" must be adapted in its application to the human race, as it is our ability to reason that elevates us and not our brute strength or physical prowess; the obvious and fatal flaw in Hitler's final solution theory. Might never makes right, and our ability to wage war doesn't solve our problems of global warming, poverty and prejudice. We must adapt to our ever changing environment because the alternative is too grim to accept. Kenny Fries has personalized this theory to stunning affect; his resiliency and steadfast courage to face life as a challenge and an opportunity are an inspiration to us all.

When I write that Kenny Fries' The History of My Shoes and the Evolution of Darwin's Theory is "moving," I do not mean to imply sentimentality. What I mean is that this is a book that is intrinsically linked to the idea of motion, in both its content and and structure. It is a book that propels the reader into new ways of reading, thinking, and seeing.

By juxtaposing the stories of Darwin and Wallace and their development of a theory of evolution with his own story and the history of his orthopedic shoes, Fries gives us two different narrative threads and makes us move back and forth between them. I have to admit that at first I found this technique a little bit awkward, but as I read, I realized that the tensions in this book are what fuel it, what give it its strength and magic. I felt my thought processes adapting as I gained a greater understaing about why these two stories are really the same story. And a month after first reading the book, I think that Fries' words are still moving around in my head, working on me slowly.

Not only does Kenny Fries manage to frame a crucial discussion in a new light, he accomplishes the most difficult and greatest thing a writer can do: he creates a structure that allows his reader to move from simply reading his words to actually experiencing what they mean. We find that Fries, in pushing us to find new ways of connecting and experiencing narrative, has begun to implant in us his own philosophy of connecting with and experiencing the world.

This is an OK book, but I could not get excited about it. Hope to be discussing it with a book group.