Unboxing “Not an Able-Bodied White Man”

Three cases of Not an Able-Bodied White Man with Money arrived yesterday. As I am not an able-bodied white man I came home from my day job exhausted and hurting and disappointed that I had to live in my disabled reality instead of the space where I can almost pass as a person with a normal body. What does this have to do with the cases of books in the foyer?

I didn’t host the official unboxing because I just didn’t have the strength or the enthusiasm.

So, today, which is the Friday of my day job, I invited authors Darrell Parry, Eva Parry and Jan Krieger to join me for the official unboxing and an unofficial pizza party. Darrell Parry also wrote the poetry manuscript Twists: Gathered Ephemera which Parisian Phoenix published in December 2021. Purchase it here from Barnes and Noble, order at Amazon or request it at your favorite bookseller.

In Not an Able-Bodied White Man with Money, Darrell gives us the poem “Small and Crooked” where he discusses the impact of his birth defect on his self-confidence. Eva makes her debut in several pieces, co-writing “The Nail Polish Story” with Nancy Scott and myself. Eva was twelve when the events of this essay transpired. In it, she tells us about the time she painted her nails for her blind friend Nancy. Nancy and I then tell our perspectives of the same incident.

I also interview Eva about the process of getting hearing aids at age 17. And she finally writes her own essay, which she calls “A Broken Normal” about disability shaming and how disabilities impact lives.

Meanwhile, Jan brings some humor to the anthology, talking about the pressure our families put upon us when they expect perfection. You’ll have to read the book to see exactly how that could ever be funny.

Together, with Eva’s dog F. Bean Barker, we opened the case of Not an Able-Bodied White Man with Money. We posted a video here.

This book is important to us as individuals and as a company. It features a variety of voices, themes, lengths and artistic mediums. There are poems, prose, photographs, art and interviews. Some pieces are very short, others are longer.

But think of this book as a conversation. Each contributor offers us a glimpse into their world, a world where they are not able-bodied white men with money. We have women (white, black, fat, sick, disabled, queer, afraid, Jewish) and we have men (white, black, masochistic, spiritual, deformed). We share our insecurities with you, as the reader, because we want you to imagine how we see the world.

There are so many layers to this book, and we, as the authors, look forward to the conversations that might happen because of our efforts. Heather Pasqualino Weirich’s painting on the cover is a conversation all its own.

We are discussing the possibility of hosting an event with Book and Puppet Company in downtown Easton with the authors reading and signing books.

If you’d like to order Not an Able-Bodied White Man with Money, it can be found on Amazon here. The volume is almost 100 pages, with more than 25 different pieces. And its retail price is 9.99.