Don't Ask the Blind Guy for Directions

Based on the title alone, I expected ‘Don't Ask the Blind Guy for Directions' to be full of humor. And thankfully, author John Samuel did actually deliver on that unspoken promise for the most part. A raw memoir, the reader is taken on the journey of a rather eventful life burdened by degenerative eye disease and bolstered by a will to not give in.

For someone with no directions to give, the author has been a lot of places. And worked there too! An international businessman and climber of one of the highest peaks in the world, the story of Samuel's life almost seems too fantastical to be true. Because there is so much to tell, the pace at times feels frenetic too. Speeding through some parts perhaps a bit too fast and then hanging on others.

The largest takeaways I had from this book are less about the author's own life and more on the way people with disabilities are often treated by the system. The strongest parts are here, both in the presentation of facts and in the way the team he finally found a home in has been working to improve other people's lives. While the context of his personal struggles dealing with his own disability is both poignant and important, I feel less focus should have been put on the parts of his life that didn't include this.

There were too many times where the narrative was bogged down by ‘I did this, and then I did this, and then this happened too' type of retelling. Repetition of the same feelings and thoughts expressed with largely no variation between them also led to this just being a presentation issue for me. This is one of the main reasons for the lower rating.

The other is the lack of realization the author seems to have about his own responsibility when it comes to some of what happens to him. Yes, the system can and should do more. Yes, he does mention that he should speak up more. But compared to the rest of what goes on, there is largely no culpability on his part that's expressed. This bothers me in more than one place but especially when it comes to two scenes.

In a large auditorium for a presentation, he asks an usher for help because he has trouble seeing. The usher obliges and helps the author to the front of the room for a better view. There is fire in the words that describe how this accommodation was terrible because it still didn't help, one of the only times the writing truly seems to get emotional. I would argue that unless something more specific was said (and didn't translate into the book), the usher did as much as they could to help with the information given.

The other scene involves a proctored test that Samuel needs to take. He's astonished that the piece of equipment he needs isn't being provided, but from my own experience, quite a few things aren't provided by those testing centers. That's usually information given when signing up for them. Calculators for instance are a big example of this. Just like with the use of a cane, I think there was some resentment toward accommodations, and it was easier to place the blame outside of oneself.

Overall, I commend the author for the things he's been through, and for the fortitude it must have taken for him to end up where he has. I just would have appreciated a sharper focus either on his own growth or the struggles and ways to overcome them that those with disabilities face.