My Sense of Silence: Memoirs of a Childhood with Deafness

by Lennard J. Davis

Overview

Selected as an "Editors Choice" by the Chicago Tribune

Lennard J. Davis grew up as the hearing child of deaf parents. In this candid, affecting, and often funny memoir, he recalls the joys and confusions of this special world, especially his complex and sometimes difficult relationships with his working-class Jewish immigrant parents. Gracefully slipping through memory, regret, longing, and redemption, My Sense of Silence is an eloquent remembrance of human ties and human failings.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780252075773
Publisher:	University of Illinois Press
Publication date:	06/09/2008
Series:	Creative Nonfiction
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Lennard J. Davis is a professor of English, Disability and Human Development, and Medical Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has written several books and published essays in The Nation, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and other publications, and he has been a commentator on National Public Radio.

Table of Contents

Preface     xi
The Grain of Sounds     1
Language and the Word of My Father     16
The Two Mothers     33
Brother's Keeper     62
Honeymoon with Mom     73
Schooling     84
Adolescence     106
College and Other Awakenings     130
Epilogue     145

What People are Saying About This

Paul Preston

A provocative and personal odyssey of growing up with deaf parents, remarkable for it’s candor, humor and originality. Davis’s memories are passionate and fierce as he pieces together the stories of his family, probing the elusive relationships between childhood and adult life. Highly recommended.
— (Paul Preston, author of Mother Father Deaf: Living between Sound and Silence and co-director of the National Resource Canter for Parents with Disabilities)

Editorial Reviews

"This is a man revealing himself, touched and startled by his act of exposure, discovering and offering the old truth: every life matters. Reminding us of this is what memoir does best. . . . An engrossing contribution to the genre."—Margaret Diehl, New York Times Book Review

"Davis's new memoir focuses on how his parents' deafness affected him. He writes frankly about the difficulties he encountered, such as his inability to call his parents when he needed comfort during the night and his having to serve as their interpreter. . . . The writer also infuses his writing with humor and the sense of love and respect he developed for his parents. . . . Davis's descriptions of the richness and complexity of sign language are the most fascinating portions of the book. Highly recommended."—Library Journal

"Good memoirs with staying power are hard to find any year. One of this year's very best is . . . My Sense of Silence. Davis succeeds brilliantly in doing many things. His is an outstanding personal and cultural study of deafness as well as a savvy and moving intellectual and political autobiography."—The Bloomsbury Review

"A truly poetic reflection flanked by Davis's ambivalent and unresolved childhood. . . . Davis blends so much painstaking detail into his writing, pulling at the reader's emotions as he processes his own odd experience. The book convincingly paints the struggles of a young man who must 'recover the child, deaf-self' that he leaves behind 'merging it with [a] hearing self.'"—The Minnesota Daily

"A provocative and personal odyssey of growing up with deaf parents, remarkable for its candor, humor and originality. Davis's memories are passionate and fierce as he pieces together the stories of his family, probing the elusive relationships between childhood and adult life. Highly recommended."—Paul Preston, author of Mother Father Deaf: Living between Sound and Silence and co-director of the National Resource Center for Parents with Disabilities

From the Publisher

His identity as a child of deaf adults led Davis (English, SUNY at Binghamton) to edit and publish his parents' correspondence in Shall I Say a Kiss?: The Courtship Letters of a Deaf Couple, 1936-38 (Gallaudet Univ., 1999). Davis's new memoir focuses on how his parents' deafness affected him. He writes frankly about the difficulties he encountered, such as his inability to call his parents when he needed comfort during the night and his having to serve as their interpreter. He also discusses his embarrassment at his Jewish immigrant parents' poor working-class lifestyle during his childhood and adolescence in the Bronx. On the other hand, the author also infuses his writing with humor and the sense of the love and respect he developed for his parents and their accomplishments. In the epilog, he even implies that his upbringing contributed to many of his own successes. For instance, he mentions that his appreciation for language and strong communication skills are related to his early experience with sign language. Indeed, Davis's descriptions of the richness and complexity of sign language are the most fascinating portions of the book. Highly recommended for all public libraries.--Ximena Chrisagis, Wright State Univ Libs., Dayton, OH Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\

Library Journal

This is a man revealing himself, touched and startled by his act of exposure, discovering and offering the old truth: every life matters. Reminding us of this is what memoir does best, and My Sense of Silence is an engrossing contribution to the genre.
—The New York Times Book Review

Diehl