Slackjaw

by Jim Knipfel

Book Overview

A staff writer and columnist with the New York Press describes his battle with retinitis pigmentosa, a rare and untreatable genetic disease that results in blindness, and an inoperable brain leasion, in a memoir that celebrates the triumph of the human spirit and determination.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0874779499
• ISBN13: 9780874779493
• Release Date: February 1999
• Publisher: Putnam Publishing Group
• Length: 235 Pages
• Weight: 0.92 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.9" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Inheritor of the Beats?

I like this book. I like Jim Knipfel's writing in general. He's quite good, and seems to be a naturally gifted author who's learned the ropes from his years as a columnist. In a strange sort of way, I consider him to be yet another link in the line of writers first described in the 1950s as the Beats. He measures up to many of those great truthsayers, and I always look forward to more work from Mr. Knipfel.Long may he linger.

Hard to defend laughing out loud about blindness, etc.....

I'm one of those people who love "true medical/Emergency Room/crime/forensic pathology" kinds of stories and am especially fond of sick humor. I read this book during downtime at work and had to stop reading because I kept laughing so hard I was almost crying. When co-workers asked what was so funny, they looked at me strangely when I tried to explain that it was the memoirs of an alcoholic, sometimes-employed man who was facing impending blindness. Go figure!! I recommended it to my equally twisted brother who liked it, as well.

Depressing fun

Knipfel is a legally blind, suicidal, alcoholic, philosophy major who knows how to look at the brighter (or at least the more humorous) side of life. Without taking the typical "Why me?" or "Poor me" route as many people would, he incorporates the "just deal with it" attitude. I wouldn't consider this a happy or feel-good about yourself book by any means. It's just the memoirs of a man who has been through a lot and can weave a good story out of the experiences. Some of the events have probably been exaggerated a bit to make them more compelling, but even so the underlying feeling is there.A quick and easy read told by a good storyteller. I'm starting his next book "Quitting the Nairobi Tribe" now, and can't wait to see what happens next.

Dark, stark, and very straightforward!

A very well written book of a man who stugglesthrough life with an eye disease(RP), but at thesame time does not have a limited view of theworld. His misanthropic and cynical viewpointsare offset by his sardonic wit as well as hisknack for crisp narrative detail. Slackjaw neverlooses the reader and takes them on an emotionalrollercoaster of sorrow and laughter. After all,it's Jim's World, we're just visiting!

A Tale of Survival

This is a tale of psychologicial survival told by a Bogart-like tough guy. Try walking into a lamp post if you want a deeper understanding of this book. Nice work brother Jim.