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flugels's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
booksthroughmyveins's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- thanks to @affirmpress for my #gifted copy of this book
I hope I never cease to be amazed and profoundly moved by the courage, the talent and the grace of writers like Sam. Writing is beautiful and painful, and for some, it can even be healing ... but writing one's story and sharing it with the world takes guts —to say the least— and significantly more so when your voice is usually dismissed and buried amidst thousands of voices louder than yours. For this, I extend my gratitude and admiration to Sam and Affirm Press for bringing Broke into the world.
I basically —and unapologetically— devoured this book, switching between reading my physical copy and listening to the audiobook. Sam's voice —figurative and literally speaking— is equally captivating and heartwrenching. Undeniably, this type of narrative can only be achieved through an uncomfortable level of vulnerability for both the author and the reader. However, little can be achieved through art if we run away from learning and listening to voices that oblige us to wake up from our stupor, demanding to witness and sit with someone else's pain.
In his Memoir, Sam covers several critical topics, succinctly drawing from a lifelong experience of discrimination and dismissal. But this book is not only about disability, poverty, mobility limitations and discrimination; it is also a profound and heartfelt love letter to Sam's mother, who advocated and fought for her sons through life-changing hardship. Throughout my short —I wanted more!— but impactful experience with this book, I found myself fantasising about reading a Memoir about Sam's mum, especially one that picks up from where Broke ends. Wink, wink. Just saying.
In addition to the compassion, kindness and hope embedded in Sam's writing, there is an urgency for action and a demand for care. The current Australian health system —made by members of the society we are all part of and responsible for— is constantly letting down, dismissing and abusing vulnerable people. To change this, we need to listen and learn. And you can start to do so by reading this book.
I hope I never cease to be amazed and profoundly moved by the courage, the talent and the grace of writers like Sam. Writing is beautiful and painful, and for some, it can even be healing ... but writing one's story and sharing it with the world takes guts —to say the least— and significantly more so when your voice is usually dismissed and buried amidst thousands of voices louder than yours. For this, I extend my gratitude and admiration to Sam and Affirm Press for bringing Broke into the world.
I basically —and unapologetically— devoured this book, switching between reading my physical copy and listening to the audiobook. Sam's voice —figurative and literally speaking— is equally captivating and heartwrenching. Undeniably, this type of narrative can only be achieved through an uncomfortable level of vulnerability for both the author and the reader. However, little can be achieved through art if we run away from learning and listening to voices that oblige us to wake up from our stupor, demanding to witness and sit with someone else's pain.
In his Memoir, Sam covers several critical topics, succinctly drawing from a lifelong experience of discrimination and dismissal. But this book is not only about disability, poverty, mobility limitations and discrimination; it is also a profound and heartfelt love letter to Sam's mother, who advocated and fought for her sons through life-changing hardship. Throughout my short —I wanted more!— but impactful experience with this book, I found myself fantasising about reading a Memoir about Sam's mum, especially one that picks up from where Broke ends. Wink, wink. Just saying.
In addition to the compassion, kindness and hope embedded in Sam's writing, there is an urgency for action and a demand for care. The current Australian health system —made by members of the society we are all part of and responsible for— is constantly letting down, dismissing and abusing vulnerable people. To change this, we need to listen and learn. And you can start to do so by reading this book.
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