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Sarah Anderson
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Publisher | Umbrella Books | ||
ISBN | 9780954262426 | ||
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Reviewer
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Vicky
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Synopsis
Halfway to Venus is about her life with one arm. It is also about other people who have lost their arms, about phantom and prosthetic limbs, about what hands and arms mean in different cultures and how they are portrayed in art and literature. Life with one arm is different in many subtle ways and this deeply personal book demonstrates why and how this is. Sarah Anderson examines peoples' reactions, from the casual to the more highly charged; she looks at the effect, both erotic and otherwise, of having only one arm on sexual and romantic encounters, describing both poignantly and entertainingly what she has learnt. Among many other experiences, she visits Lourdes and, going from the sublime to the ridiculous, she takes part in a One Armed Dove Hunt in Texas.
Review
Halfway to Venus is a brilliant book, not just because it is Sarah Anderson's autobiography, but because she has put in so much historical evidence going back thousands of years on how society treated people with one arm.
Sarah is a very gutsy lady who has made her story truly fascinating by using facts and humour and by just getting on with life. Rather than take no as an answer she has found ways to circumnavigate whatever problem she has come up against and made that no a yes. For instance going skiing shortly after having her arm amutated! Her family didn't believe in wrapping Sarah up in cotton wool and as a result she has done much travelling around the world and been an inspiration to other people.
By adding several thousand years of one armed history, with some of the stories being very humerous, she has made the book extremely entertaining as well as telling her own story.
An inspirational and very honest book which I highly recommend. Listen to Sara's interview .
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