Independent scholar M. Leona Godin, who is blind, takes an eclectic, but consistently intellectual, approach to visual impairment in her genre bending study, <em>There Plant Eyes</em>. Whether she's analyzing ancient Greek drama or the poetry of Milton, or discussing the development of Braille, Helen Keller’s surprisingly radical ideas, or the profusion of “inspiration porn,” her writing dispels the "ocularcentric" myths sighted people believe about blindness.

This book took a few chapters to grow on me. The narrative is at its most compelling when Godin relates her own experiences and writes about social justice issues as they relate to blindness. Recommended.

I received an electronic pre-publication copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way.

This book was so thoughtful, full of fascinating history, analysis, and personal stories. I found myself reading it hungrily, so much so that I often had to remind myself to slow down, because I really wanted to take in everything Godin had to say. This was a rigorous and complicated history of blindness, how blindness is portrayed in literature and media, as well as cultural ideas about blindness, and the various experiences of blind people throughout history. But there is also so much in here about sight and what it means, about different ways of seeing, talking, communicating, experiencing the world, about access and ablism and science and art. I loved the way Godin didn't separate the memoir bits from the literary criticism, history, and cultural critique. One minute she'd be analyzing Milton and the next she'd be talking about what it was like to read Milton as a grad student, while she was loosing her sight. It made for such an engaging reading experience. Cannot recommend this book enough.