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Speech is the human race's most prominent means of communication, it is the trait that most obviously sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. However, for 1% of the world’s population this seemingly simple act is inexplicably rendered both painful and uncontrollable. For these so-called 'stutterers' easy utterances are turned into a collection of fragmented sentences riddled with frustration and self-doubt. In her first book, Almost Normal, Katherine Preston takes a unique and personal look at what it means to live a life stuttering. In authoritative, entertaining and unsparing prose she looks at a condition that may be as old as speech itself but is still grossly misunderstood and remains one of the only disabilities that is openly mocked. Almost Normal offers a fresh perspective on our obsession with physical perfection and an exploration of what our voice means to each of us. It combines memoir and investigative journalism as it chronologically follows Katherine's internal and external quest as she travels across the United States interviewing stutterers, researchers and speech therapists in order to come to terms with her own speech. It begins the day that her previously normal speech is inexplicably taken from her, the terror and hopelessness that follow in its wake, and her journey through preservation into understanding. As she travels around the country conducting interviews the book dips in and out of each character’s story and follows her tumultuous journey as she falls in love with another stutterer and gradually learns to embrace her unique voice. In the book, celebrities from Emily Blunt to John Stossel, Michael Palin, Jack Welch, Bob Love, Harry Evans, Jake Steinfeld, Jeff Blitz, David Shields, Edward Hoagland and Bill Withers speak candidly about this intimate part of their lives. Their stories are interspersed amidst people who have rarely spoken about their stutter before and those who have dedicated their lives to understanding this enigmatic condition. |