Connecting Dots
A Blind Life
Contributors
With Wendell Jamieson
Formats and Prices
- On Sale
- Mar 4, 2025
- Page Count
- 288 pages
- Publisher
- Grand Central Publishing
- ISBN-13
- 9780306832802
Price
$15.99Price
$20.99 CADFormat
Format:
- ebook $15.99 $20.99 CAD
- Hardcover $30.00 $39.00 CAD
- Audiobook Download (Unabridged) $27.99
Also available from:
At the age of four, Joshua Miele was blinded and badly burned when a neighbor poured sulfuric acid over his head. It could have ended his life, but instead, Miele—naturally curious, and a born problem solver—not only recovered, but thrived. Throughout his life, Miele has found increasingly inventive ways to succeed in a world built for the sighted, and to help others to do the same. At first reluctant to even think of himself as blind, he eventually embraced his blindness and became a committed advocate for disability and accessibility. Along the way, he grappled with drugs and addiction, played bass in a rock band, worked for NASA, became a guerilla activist, and married the love of his life and had two children. He chronicles the evolution of a number of revolutionary accessible technologies and his role in shaping them, including screen readers, tactile maps, and audio description.
Connecting Dots delivers a captivating first-person perspective on blindness and disability as incisive as it is entertaining, and ultimately triumphant. Joshua Miele's story is one of one ordinary blind life with an indelible impact.
-
“Told with humor, insight, and not an ounce of self-pity, [Miele’s] story is an inspiration.”People
-
“An instant classic. Like its author, Connecting Dots is brilliant but approachable; irreverent without losing touch with the seriousness of his subject; and accessible in every sense of the word. Miele's funny, moving, and absorbing account of his life and work demonstrate the truth behind the proverb about innovation and necessity: disabled people are the true mothers of invention.”Andrew Leland, author of The Country of the Blind
-
“This is not a single book, but several wonderful books wrapped up into one. It’s a science book, a romance, a riveting history of the disability movement, a book about New York, an advice book. And, of course, it’s a memoir—fascinating, honest, and inspirational in a delightfully un-sappy way.”A.J. Jacobs, author of The Know It All and The Year of Living Constitutionally
-
“This is the story of a singular life, one shaped by violence but also by a devoted family, dedicated teachers and an array of fellow blind people who refused to accept the limitations imposed on them by others.”Georgina Kleege, author of More Than Meets the Eye: What Blindness Brings to Art
-
“Josh’s journey—from acid-burn survivor to MacArthur Genius—is raw, honest, and unexpectedly funny. I couldn’t put it down, finishing it in a single flight. His storytelling connects dots, literal and figurative, in a way that’s utterly brilliant.”Mike May, Paralympian and subject of Crashing Through
-
“Josh Miele gets up close and personal into his life as a blind kid who grew to become a MacArthur ‘Genius.’ His extraordinary journey, teeming with resilience, adaptability, and innovation resonates deeply with my own blindness experience.”Lachi Music, singer-songwriter and founder and CEO of RAMPD
-
"I'm absolutely obsessed with this book. Loved. Could not put this down. Loved, loved, Loved."Zibby Owens
-
“Written with veteran journalist Wendell Jamieson, this coming-of-age story focuses on the unconventional childhood and young adulthood that led Miele to become an award-winning innovator and disability activist. … With its engaging voice, humor and a little sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll, Connecting Dots is an illuminating portrait of a life that’s without sight, but not without vision.”Bookpage
