Terry Lynn Galloway

The life and mostly-lesbian loves of a woman who became (small-d) deaf at the age of nine are explored in this wry, David-Sedaris-like memoir.

Author Terry Galloway was born in post-WWII Germany; her father was a Cold-War era American spy. Galloway inherited his ability to act as if she were someone else. Despite her difficulties with hearing (even with hearing aids) and enunciation, Galloway devotes her life to theater, where she makes a fulfilling, if sometimes impoverished, life for herself. She also finds true love and some measure of mental stability, despite some severe episodes of dissociation and depression. As other readers have commented, the first half of the book is more engaging than the second. Still, I recommend this book.… (más)

I liked this book. I wanted to like it more. It's a good read, particularly the first 1/3 which focuses on Galloway's childhood. Her experiences are rich and unique and her storytelling especially strong in the beginning. And it may be that theater (her great passion) is difficult to translate to the page, or that it's not as engaging as she, herself is. There are awkward overlaps with some of the stories, so that you get one impression of a certain time in her life, only to have the next story shift that perception with conflicting information. Still, I would recommend Mean Little Deaf Queer for it's unique perspective, some honestly brilliant writing about disability and a final chapter which made me weep.… (más)