OUTSIDE MYSELF

Outside Myself  by Kristen Witucki

Imagine being blind.  We who are sighted cannot.  KRISTEN WITUCKI, the author of OUTSIDE MYSELF, grew up in New Jersey  totally blind since birth.  Kristen earned a B.A. in English from Vassar College and then an additional three Masters degrees, including an MFA in the creative writing of fiction from Sarah Lawrence College. Like Tallie, the main character of this novel, Kristen struggled with the question asked by many young people, “who am I and who do I want to become?”

Tallie is a teen who hates her blindness.  This unusual book gives the reader a sense of what that must mean as we follow Tallie’s journey and also the journey of Benjamin’s, an older librarian who also has been blind most of his life.  In Tallie’s first phone conversation with Benjamin she states she is looking for a book that will explain her eye condition and indicate if surgery will be a possible way to see again.  Tallie explains, “I’m looking for a cure.  My dad told me there is a cure.”

Benjamin answers, “You won’t find that here. You’re blind.  You’ll live.”

Tallie responds – I was ready to hang up.  I decided in that moment that I hated him.  “But I don’t want to be blind anymore,”  I said, fighting against the tightness in my throat.  “I’d rather be dead.”

Benjamin’s response is honest and nonplussed.  “…you’d have a better chance of killing yourself than of coming up with a cure.  If you want to die, there’s nothing I can do to help with that either.”

OUTSIDE MYSELF is unique. Tallie’s voice is fresh, honest, and surprising.

What would it be like to be blind?  Let Tallie and Benjamin show you.