Deaf Passions

Much has been written about the profoundly deaf, but the lives of the nearly 30 million partially deaf people in the United States today remain hidden. Gerald Shea’s witty and candid memoir of how he compensated—through sheer determination and an amazing ability to translate the melody of vowels—brings fascinating new insight into the nature and significance of language, the meaning of deafness, the fierce controversy between advocates of signing versus those who favor oral education, and the longing for full communication that unites us all.