She Touched the World: Laura Bridgman, Deaf-Blind Pioneer (review)
2008; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 61; Issue: 9 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/bcc.0.0039
ISSN1558-6766
Autores ResumoReviewed by: She Touched the World: Laura Bridgman, Deaf-Blind Pioneer Jeannette Hulick Alexander, Sally Hobart; She Touched the World: Laura Bridgman, Deaf Blind Pioneer; by Sally Hobart Alexander; and Robert Alexander;. Clarion, 2008; 100p illus. with photographs ISBN 978-0-618-85299-4 $18.00 Ad Gr. 5-8 Though many children will have heard of Helen Keller, far fewer will be familiar with the name Laura Bridgman. The Alexanders try to remedy this deficit with their biography of the deaf-blind girl who, in the mid-1800s, paved the way for Helen Keller and others like her. After a darkly droll introduction ("If you had lived in 1841 . . . you would have named your favorite doll after her. . . . And then you would have poked out the doll's eyes"), the book assumes a more conventional tone, covering in detail Laura's early years (including the illness that took her sight, hearing, and much of her sense of taste and smell), school years, and, much more briefly, adulthood and death. An intriguing afterword explores the ways in which Laura's life would have been different today as a result of current laws, medical practices, attitudes, and technology; thorough source notes, an extensive bibliography (including websites), and an index are also included. The numerous difficulties faced both by Laura and by those who sought to communicate with and instruct her are interestingly presented, Laura's human flaws are not glossed over, and the authors provide a historical context for Laura's situation. Unfortunately, the text is sometimes disjointed or even confusing, with speculation and digressive context discussions poorly expanding on known facts even as useful explanations are occasionally absent. While the multiple photos and illustrations of Laura, eyes covered by a dark ribbon or mask, are striking, some of the other photos and illustrations [End Page 371] seem more filler than anything else (a full-page photo of a phrenology model appears opposite a very brief explanation of phrenology and its interest to Laura's doctor). Despite these flaws, this is a solid and informative look at a now little-known public figure. Copyright © 2008 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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