Helen Keller: A Life

by Dorothy Herrmann

Book Overview

Dorothy Herrmann's powerful biography of Helen Keller tells the whole story of the controversial and turbulent relationship between Helen and her teacher, Annie Sullivan. Herrmann also chronicles Helen's doomed love affair, her struggles to earn a living, her triumphs at Radcliffe College, and her work as an advocate for the disabled. Helen Keller has been venerated as a saint or damned as a fraud, but Herrmann shows her to have been a beautiful,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226327639
• ISBN13: 9780226327631
• Release Date: December 1999
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 414 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Helen Keller Loves Martinis

This is a wonderful addition to all the bios on these two remarkable women. While the definitive is "Helen and Teacher," by Joseph Lash, this book adds lots of interesting details. I had no idea that Helen had her eyes replaced with plastic ones (hence the full face photos in adulthood) or that she enjoyed martinis, high heels and fur coats. What a woman! This is a very enjoyable book with plenty of great photographs. I wonder how much of Helen and Annie's fame was based on their youthful beauty?

An excellent biography

This was one of those books you can't stop reading. The author does a really nice job chronicling Helen's life; the book is entertaining from cover to cover. I was deeply moved, reading about Helen's struggle with her disability, and how her mother forbidded her to have any type of relationship with men, stripping her of her rights as an adult. There are many poignant moments throughout the book, such as when Helen is emotionally crushed after she is accused of plagiarism. Helen Keller's story is an inspirational one, and well worth reading.

does helen keller justice more than keller's own writings

I found this an excellent biography...and it surprised me how much more disturbed I was by the life of Helen Keller and by her relationships with others, particularly Annie Sullivan, than I was before reading this book. I think anyone who previously thought Helen Keller was a happy and joyous woman would realize how mistaken that idea is. although the reality of her triumph over hardship can never be diminished, and for that she will always be a model of inspiration, she strikes me as having been an often extremely sad, emotionally shut down and isolated woman...but mostly someone who lived behind a major false front and "put on a happy face" to survive. strong points: very well researched, clearly and carefully written, often insightful, not shying away from taboo topics (sexuality, alcoholism, child abuse), all in all quite readablea quick gripe: I feel Herrmann could have been more interpretive about the relationship between Helen and Annie. while reading the book I often found myself feeling that Helen and Annie's relationship (and Helen herself) was far more disturbed - unbalanced - than even Herrmann was concluding.

Revealing portrait of one (or rather, two) incredible women

This book revealed much I had never known about Helen Keller, Annie Sullivan, and their relationship with each other and other people. It really was about both of them, and not just Helen. Now I have some insight into the complex personalities of Annie and Helen that I never had before. I'm so glad Dorothy Herrman wrote a biography that showed that Helen was human, not a saint. Great if you want to do a report on either (or both) Helen and Annie. Well-written, too.

A great portrayal of an incredible woman

I feel that this book was well documented, well researched and beautifully quoted. I learned about the relationship between Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller. Annie Sullivan is a complex character and Helen Keller is a spiritual soul... Highly recommended it is a beautiful biography written well....