The Body Silent

"The most powerful book of its kind I've ever read.... Extraordinary powers of observation, generalization, and depth."—Oliver Sacks, author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat Winner of the Columbia University Lionel Trilling Award. Robert Murphy was in the prime of his career as an anthropologist when he felt the first symptom of a malady that would ultimately tak...

"The most powerful book of its kind I've ever read.... Extraordinary powers of observation, generalization, and depth."—Oliver Sacks, author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat Winner of the Columbia University Lionel Trilling Award. Robert Murphy was in the prime of his career as an anthropologist when he felt the first symptom of a malady that would ultimately take him on an odyssey stranger than any field trip to the Amazon: a tumor of the spinal cord that progressed slowly and irreversibly into quadriplegia. In this gripping account, Murphy explores society's fears, myths, and misunderstandings about disability, and the damage they inflict. He reports how paralysis—like all disabilities—assaults people's identity, social standing, and ties with others, while at the same time making the love of life burn even more fiercely.

罗伯特·F. 墨菲（Robert F. Murphy, 1924-1990），当代美国著名人类学家，哥伦比亚大学人类学教授，约翰·西蒙·古根海姆纪念基金会研究员。墨菲曾在亚马孙河流域等地开展过田野工作，他与妻子尤兰达（Yolanda）合著的《丛林中的女人们》（Women of the Forest, 1974）堪称人类学领域最早关注性别问题的民族志研究之一。他于1972年卸下哥伦比亚大学人类学系系主任一职之后罹患脊髓肿瘤，但依然坚持工作，并在轮椅上奇迹般地完成了自传式民族志《静默之身：残障人士的不平凡世界》。