Getting Life (Paperback)

by Julie Shaw Cole (Author) "That light hits the side of the red roof at a different time each afternoon..." (more)
Key Phrases: motor chair, independent living center, South Pines, Emily Mason, Grandma Sample (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Emily .... funny, imaginative and downright spunky, .... will move the reader to laughter as often as tears. -- Kentucky Monthly, June 2001

Now it's up to us-the reading public-to see that GETTING LIFE finds a home throughout libraries all over the world. -- Institute for Disability Culture Manifesto #27

Product Description
A remarkable likeness of the lives of so many men and women with disabilities who face the very difficult decisions which leave independence and security hanging in the balance. "It changed the way I think," says Moira Adams. " I was forced to rethink my own assumptions about being disabled and the rights of disabled people."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 303 pages
• Publisher: Advocado Press, Inc.; 1st edition (October 27, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0962706485
• ISBN-13: 978-0962706486
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,187,419 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A life-changing book; an important work., December 7, 2000

By	Michael E. Mattox "[e-mail]" (Henryville, IN USA) - See all my reviews

This book will challenge - and possibly alter - your perceptions of the disabled. The disabled person that you know (your uncle, spouse, neighbor, or client) will be seen in a new light. A friend, working wonderfully with the disabled for years, now sees her clients in yet a new way. You will, also. Read this book. You owe it to yourself. It is beautifully written, with great and moving senstivity.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Winner of the WordWeaving Award of Excellence, October 17, 2001

By	C. Penn "WordWeaving" (Greenville, SC) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Author Julie Shaw Cole creates a painful, joyful, enthralling journey toward self-discovery in GETTING LIFE. Told from the first person point of view, she draws the reader deeply into the horrific and frustrating world of nursing home care, seen through the eyes of thirty-five-year-old Emily Mason. Emily spends seventeen years in a wheel chair, watching the play of light on rooftops seen through the window of the nursing home.

When her mother died in an accident, Emily went to live with a tender uncle and an abusive aunt. When these relatives die, Emily comes to live at the nursing home. Her life seemed to be characterized by abuse and neglect, as the people around her assume that because she cannot speak she cannot think. When a devastating accident results in a hospital stay, Emily meets Dr. West, a woman who will change her life. For the first time, someone speaks to her, rather around her or about her. For the first time, her humanity is recognized.

It takes three years and remarkable discipline for Emily to free herself from the nursing home. As she struggles to communicate, to read, to become mobile, and to learn the skills she needs to live independently, her lessons become lessons for the reader about the strength of the human spirit and the weakness of human perception. She confesses her own prejudices and fears, thereby forcing readers to reevaluate themselves. Indeed, readers will find their most basic assumptions challenged; from the accessibility of sidewalks to the way we see those who are different from ourselves. A must read for all caring human beings, GETTING LIFE comes very highly recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars getting life, November 14, 2000

By A Customer

this book is true to life for many people with disabilities. Slipping into Em's shoes and reading about how the patients were treated reminded me of a friend that i would visit in a nursing home and found her not quite sitting right in her chair having to eat cold food at mealtimes. Days i would come i would bring some fast food that i bought so she would have something warm to eat.This book is one book that people who are thinking about putting a love one in a nursing home need to read first.