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A review by agnesnutter
Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space by Amanda Leduc
slow-paced
2.5
This one was a bit of a disappointing read, perhaps because the marketing of the book isn't quite in tune with what the text actually delivers. Although I wouldn't be able to pinpoint where exactly the text is supposed to belong either.
Is this a piece of scholarship? Not really. Is this a memoir? Sometimes, and often those moments are the most interesting ones, but they don't happen as often as they could have.
This genre confusion isn't helped by Leduc's often too-broad analyses, which tend to oversimplify where a more informed, less generalised look would have been more interesting (this is particularly present when she tackles folk tales and their history.)
In a similar vein, Leduc often dodges going beyond the surface when tackling issues of class and race and how they interact with disability, especially beyond North America. There are nods given to this, and capitalism is appropriately pointed as the engine of many types of oppression, but nowhere does the author dig deeper into the system and how fairytales (which often existed way before capitalism or even written words) play a part in that. That same surface level treatment is given to disabilities that are more "invisible", like autism or other neurodevelopmental realities.
A very promising idea that doesn't quite deliver.
Is this a piece of scholarship? Not really. Is this a memoir? Sometimes, and often those moments are the most interesting ones, but they don't happen as often as they could have.
This genre confusion isn't helped by Leduc's often too-broad analyses, which tend to oversimplify where a more informed, less generalised look would have been more interesting (this is particularly present when she tackles folk tales and their history.)
In a similar vein, Leduc often dodges going beyond the surface when tackling issues of class and race and how they interact with disability, especially beyond North America. There are nods given to this, and capitalism is appropriately pointed as the engine of many types of oppression, but nowhere does the author dig deeper into the system and how fairytales (which often existed way before capitalism or even written words) play a part in that. That same surface level treatment is given to disabilities that are more "invisible", like autism or other neurodevelopmental realities.
A very promising idea that doesn't quite deliver.