Now I See You: A Memoir
A laugh-out-loud memoir about going blind? Yes, that’s what Kear presents as she recounts how, after her sophomore year at Yale, she was diagnosed with a degenerative retinal disease and told she will lose her eyesight in just 10 to 15 more years. She worries about having kids: “How could I change dirty diapers or bandage scrapes if I couldn’t see?” Her response is rebellious. She smokes, even though her doctor tells her it will make her vision worse. She also sleeps around (a lot), drives (badly), and avoids telling even close friends about her deteriorating vision. Eventually, she marries an understanding man (who occasionally balks at being her “seeing-eye guy”) and becomes a mom. Kear is earthy and daringly frank in this never-boring, unusually illuminating account of living with diminishing sight as she, ultimately, takes a refreshingly glass-half-full approach to life. “The wonderful thing about going blind is that along with the beautiful sights, you miss unattractive ones, too. You won’t see your crow’s feet.” Funny and poignant. --Karen Springen