Better Together
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An unusual historian, Fries wears the story of his life on his feet in specially constructed orthopedic shoes. And because many have simplified evolutionary theory into the slogan "survival of the fittest," Fries measures his own conflicted identity against the terms of that theory--and against the psychological complexities of its discoverers. For in Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace, Fries recognizes a pair of intellectual adventurers whose research--now in isolation, now in concert, now in conflict--illuminates his own quest to adapt to an ever-shifting environment. Indeed, Fries never appreciates his unnaturally shaped shoes more than when they enable his otherwise-crippled feet to transport him up the trails of the Galepagos Islands, where Darwin once contemplated the natural shapes of birds and reptiles. Appreciation melds with resistance, however, when Fries attempts to reframe the Darwin-Wallace debate over sexual selection from his homosexual perspective. Few are the writers who can so deftly weave science into intensely personal reflections, compellingly reminding readers of the still unfathomable mystery of one terrestrial species.
Bryce Christensen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
The Washington Blade, June 8, 2007
Fascinating...With incisive passion, Fries argues that the ideas of Darwin and Wallace yield insights into how disability fits into culture....People adapt in order to survive just as species do. The History of My Shoes and the Evolution of Darwin's Theory will take you on a remarkable journey of memoir, disability, and culture
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