Sitting Pretty cover art

Sitting Pretty

The View from My Ordinary, Resilient, Disabled Body

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Sitting Pretty

By: Rebekah Taussig
Narrated by: Rebekah Taussig
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About this listen

A memoir-in-essays from disability advocate and creator of the Instagram account @sitting_pretty Rebekah Taussig, processing a lifetime of memories to paint a beautiful, nuanced portrait of a body that looks and moves differently than most.

Growing up as a paralyzed girl during the '90s and early 2000s, Rebekah Taussig only saw disability depicted as something monstrous (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), inspirational (Helen Keller), or angelic (Forrest Gump). None of this felt right; and as she got older, she longed for more stories that allowed disability to be complex and ordinary, uncomfortable and fine, painful and fulfilling.

Writing about the rhythms and textures of what it means to live in a body that doesn’t fit, Rebekah reflects on everything from the complications of kindness and charity, living both independently and dependently, experiencing intimacy, and how the pervasiveness of ableism in our everyday media directly translates to everyday life.

Disability affects all of us, directly or indirectly, at one point or another. By exploring this truth in poignant and lyrical essays, Taussig illustrates the need for more stories and more voices to understand the diversity of humanity. Sitting Pretty challenges us as a society to be patient and vigilant, practical and imaginative, kind and relentless, as we set to work to write an entirely different story.

©2020 Rebekah Taussig (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers
Essays People with Disabilities Social Sciences Women Nonfiction
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Absolutely brilliant!

I'm a musician and disability rights campaigner with CP, Also a fulltime wheelchair user. My music therapist recommended this book over a year ago. I bought it that night and it's sat in my library till Monday 26th June 2023. It wasn't that I didn't want to read/Listen to it but that I feared it hitting too close to home. Honestly it did in places but I'm glad I took the plunge.

I can identify with so much of this book and you've given me so much food for thought. I'm definitely going to follow you once I create an Instagram account. Hopefully we can talk in more detail (if you read thls. )

For now and from a fellow "Criminal Minds " fan: I have two words to show my support going forward, "Wheels Up "

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INTERESTING! AUDACIOUS!! INSIGHTFUL!!!

I bought this audiobook as a wedding present to myself, having just married my disabled sweetheart, to have a look into the world of the disabled and I was not disappointed.

It was an interesting read from start to finish. I read some chapters twice, so I could learn and laugh again.
Sitting Pretty is a book you won't drop until the end. I did not just read a book, I had a conversation with Rebekah.
I look forward to the sequel of the ongoing story...... You know what I mean Rebekah. 😀
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A worldview-changing book that we all need to read

I wish I was a writer just so I could express how much I loved this book. I thought it would be a book about disability - but while it does contain stories from Rebekah's experience of living and making her place in the world as a disabled person, it breaks down the imaginary barrier between "disabled" and "non-disabled". It shows how accessibility favours all of us; how adapting to the needs of disabled people (which needs to be done by the way, and isn't done nearly enough - stop using accessible changing rooms and install more ramps please, for starters!) isn't just about rectifying a wrong that exists in the world, it can also take us to a place where we begin creating a world that embraces our diversity, and by supporting the needs of our changing, suffering, ageing bodies, allows all of us to make our contribution to society from our unique perspectives. Everybody needs to read this book - it will be in all of my family and friends' Christmas stockings this year. Go read this book, now.

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Everyone should read this book.

This book expanded my thinking about disability and the way society interacts with other disabled people and disabilities outside my lived experience.

Rebekah’s narration sets this book up to be very accessible to comprehend quite complex topics and learn along the way. The mix between personal stories and research topics is brilliantly done. Rebekah also includes further resources and materials at the end which is a great bonus!

Sitting Pretty is an accessible resource that I can definitely see myself coming back too over and over again.

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An education of disabled life

I love this so much! So honest, brilliant and just so beautifully written. Everybody should read this.

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Powerful and Educational

A wonderful insight not about someone disabled, but someone in a wheelchair and a woman. The books shows how so many disabled are still invisible, despite small improvements and improved media representation.

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Unmissable

Honestly one of the best things I have ever read, thought provoking, funny, sad, clever, interesting & empowering.

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Brilliant!

Everyone should read/listen to this brilliant, beautifully written (and narrated) book! Absolutely loved it.

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Must read

An incredibly well written and thoughtful piece of non fiction. I cannot recommend this book enough

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