The Backwards Hand

“The Backwards Hand is a book like no other I know. With trancelike lyricism, deep vulnerability, provocative humor, and wide-ranging research, Matt Lee brilliantly complicates commonly held beliefs about disability. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read and recommended this book. I’m obsessed.” —Jeannie Vanasco, author of Things We Didn't Talk about When I Was a Girl

“The Backwards Hand is a striking meditation on the meaning and experience of disability. Utilizing fragmentation and collage, Lee weaves together memoir and research to create an engaging, sharp, and sometimes humorous portrait of the ways he claims his own reality and agency. This book rejects the tropes—overcoming, inspiration, cure—that disability narratives are often forced into and instead, it powerfully pushes against these too-tidy narratives. A richly layered and important work.” — Sonya Huber, author of Pain Woman Takes Your Keys and Other Essays from a Nervous System