From Library Journal
What began as a feature article for Esquire in February 1998, in which contributing editor Richardson introduces several people, tall and small, looking for love and miracles at the annual Little People of America convention, has culminated in this full-blown narrative. Here Richardson explores the intimate stories and relationships he cultivated with the individuals initially profiled. He deftly alternates between multiple characters and story lines the meeting and courtship of Michael and Meredith, the contentious Andrea, and the heartbreaking and truly remarkable odyssey of Jocelyn and her mother, Evelyn. Throughout, Richardson expounds upon the genetic, cultural, and literary facets of dwarfism and along the way introduces us to some fascinating people, like the brilliant surgeon Dr. Carson and the preeminent medical authority on dwarfism, the Mother Teresa-like Dr. Kopits. Richardson is both entertaining and brutally honest in these relationships, which become significant in his life an interesting twist on the detached journalistic approach. This is a work whose significance will increase. An important purchase for most libraries. Barry X. Miller, Austin P.L., TX
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Richardson's introduction to the Little World begins at the Little People of America convention in Atlanta. On assignment to write a story of the convention for
Esquire magazine, Richardson conducts interviews with several dwarfs. He meets Michael, looking for love and hoping to hit it off with Meredith. He also meets Jocelyn and her mother, Evelyn, who have come all the way from Australia to consult with Dr. Kopits, a doctor famous for his dedication to treating dwarfs. And then there is Andrea--defensive and easily enraged, she seems to be as fascinated with Richardson as he is with her. Even after the convention is long over, Richardson keeps in touch with the dwarfs he became closest to, following Michael and Meredith's romance, Jocelyn's multiple surgeries and their effect on her family, and Andrea's grappling with her father's illness. Richardson's writing has both immediacy and candor, but perhaps what is most special about the book is how closely he is involved in the lives of the people whose stories he is relating here. Richardson struggles with his own perceptions of beauty and physicality, challenged by Andrea's confrontational nature and Jocelyn's stoic bravery. Richardson's introspection might cause him to lose his impersonal distance, but it is only to his, and the book's, benefit. Because of its naked honesty,
In the Little World is both phenomenal and unique.
Kristine HuntleyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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