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Hands of My Father
Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love | Myron Uhlberg
11 posts | 11 read | 18 to read
By turns heart-tugging and hilarious, Myron Uhlbergs memoir tells the story of growing up as the hearing son of deaf parentsand his life in a world that he found unaccountably beautiful, even as he longed to escape it. Does sound have rhythm? my father asked. Does it rise and fall like the ocean? Does it come and go like the wind? Such were the kinds of questions that Myron Uhlbergs deaf father asked him from earliest childhood, in his eternal quest to decipher, and to understand, the elusive nature of sound. Quite a challenge for a young boy, and one of many he would face. Uhlbergs first language was American Sign Language, the first sign he learned: I love you. But his second language was spoken Englishand no sooner did he learn it than he was called upon to act as his fathers ears and mouth in the stores and streets of the neighborhood beyond their silent apartment in Brooklyn. Resentful as he sometimes was of the heavy burdens heaped on his small shoulders, he nonetheless adored his parents, who passed on to him their own passionate engagement with life. These two remarkable people married and had children at the absolute bottom of the Great Depressionan expression of extraordinary optimism, and typical of the joy and resilience they were able to summon at even the darkest of times. From the beaches of Coney Island to Ebbets Field, where he watches his fathers hero Jackie Robinson play ball, from the branch library above the local Chinese restaurant where the odor of chow mein rose from the pages of the books he devoured to the hospital ward where he visits his polio-afflicted friend, this is a memoir filled with stories about growing up not just as the child of two deaf people but as a book-loving, mischief-making, tree-climbing kid during the remarkably eventful period that spanned the Depression, the War, and the early fifties. From the Hardcover edition.
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review
BookishBelle
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Pickpick

Finished this one today while sitting outside in this delightful weather. I enjoyed it! I‘ll get it in the mail to you this week @Wife ! #lmpbc @Shadowfat @Hooked_on_books

Wife Thanks. I‘m glad you liked it. 🌹 4y
21 likes1 comment
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BookishBelle
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Wife I hope you like it 🌹 4y
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BookishBelle
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Wife Hope you like it🌹 4y
Hooked_on_books Well that‘s a relief! 4y
17 likes2 comments
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Hooked_on_books
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Pickpick

Myron Uhlberg was born a hearing child in the 1930s to two deaf parents. Here he reveals his bond with his father while he was growing up, including the love present in the family and the ways he helped his parents navigate the world. I thought it was great. Thanks for this pick, @Wife ! #LMPBC #memoir

Wife So glad you liked it 🌹 4y
Wife @Shadowfat Hey Molly, I didn‘t get a book for January yet. Just wanted to let you know that I will read and mail the next one as soon as I get it. 🌹 4y
Lesliereads Ah! I actually read a wonderful illustrated children‘s book by this author in which he is a boy trying to learn to describe the sounds of his world to his parents. 4y
See All 7 Comments
BookishBelle @wife @shadowfat @Hooked_on_books I‘m sending Beautiful Bodies to @wife tomorrow! I‘m sorry I‘m so behind! Things have been insane here! I did not receive To The Stars. It seems it has been lost in the mail. I‘m going to check on that when I go to the post office tomorrow. 4y
Hooked_on_books @Lesliereads How cool! He mentioned he was a children‘s author in this book. I‘m glad he‘s good at it. Not surprising given his good writing here. 4y
Shadowfat It's sad my book got lost in the mail, I hope it shows up! I'm behind too, I'm hoping to finish the book I have this week @Hooked_on_books 4y
ValerieAndBooks I love this one! As a deaf person myself, I appreciated his descriptions of the Deaf world as it was when he was growing up. 4y
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Shadowfat
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Pickpick

I enjoyed this book, it wasn't something I would have normally picked but that's even better. I enjoyed reading about the author growing up in the 30s and 40s and how different it was to be hearing impaired at that time. I mailed this this out to you @Hooked_on_books on Monday. @BookishBelle @Wife #lmpbc

Hooked_on_books I look forward to it. Sounds really interesting. 4y
Wife I‘m glad you liked it. 🌹 4y
Hooked_on_books Just wanted to let you know the book arrived. I‘m a bit worried about your book, though. I mailed it on to Amy and my tracking number says it was delivered, but she says she didn‘t receive it. I will talk to the post office next week to see if they have any way to trace it beyond what I can do. 4y
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Wife
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Pickpick

#LMPBC #GroupB I finished this last night and will be sending it on to @Shadowfat I don‘t want to say too much. I liked the beginning, but it got a bit slow midway. What I did like a lot were the family pictures. They are amazingly high quality for the time period; not a bad shot in the bunch. 2/5✋🏻s
@BookishBelle @Hooked_on_books @suvata

Wife @Shadowfat Just wanted to make sure you got this in the mail. I sent it last week. 🌹 4y
Shadowfat Yes I did get it @Wife , sorry I forgot to post about it! I'm planning on finishing my book this weekend and starting on yours. 4y
Wife @Shadowfat 👍🏻 4y
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Astroneman
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Happy Father's Day!!!
This is my baby boy card, made at the kindergarden.
#book #lettura #leggere #litsybook #fatherday #card #babyboy #booklover #handmadecard

ReadZenRites Gifts made by your own kids are the best! ✨🎁✨Happy Fathers‘ Day! 6y
21 likes1 comment
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KarenUK
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#marchintooz #helpinghand
A memoir I read for one of my Book clubs.....
It‘s a very touching story about the relationship between this hearing boy and his deaf parents, and particularly the closeness he had with his father.

Cinfhen Love this choice 🙌🏻❤️ 6y
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ValerieAndBooks
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Instead of by the Deaf themselves, it seems the majority of memoirs about the Deaf experience are written by CODAs (children of deaf adult (s), but this is one I especially liked. Both touching and funny, Uhlberg recalls his experiences growing up in Brooklyn, interpreting the Joe Louis-Max Schmeling fight on the radio for his father, and much more. This is one passage I loved. #memorablememoirs

Erynecki Have you ever seen the documentary Sound and Fury? So fascinating. 8y
LeahBergen That is a fascinating passage! 8y
ValerieAndBooks @Erynecki I have not (or its sequel). I know I should one of these days, to see how it's presented. Being deaf myself, I already know all about the controversy surrounding cochlear implants. It's not an easy decision to make, definitely. 8y
ValerieAndBooks @LeahBergen I agree! He explains it so well. If fluent in Sign, one can tell a lot about the person from seeing how they sign. 8y
Zelma Really interesting passage! Thanks so much for sharing it. 8y
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KarenUK
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#day11 #booktober #memorablememoirs These are two memorable memoirs I read this year... both about fathers and sons... both very moving... but the relationships couldn't be more different... I recommend Alan Cumming's on audio (coz that voice y'all!)

GinaAnderson I'm listening to it now and I totally agree. 8y
RealLifeReading Love Alan Cumming! 8y
writerlibrarian Alan Cummings' is in my TRP for the fall. 8y
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LaurenAsh
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So elegant and beautiful. I don't have much experience with Deaf culture but Myron Uhlberg was completely immersed as both of his parents couldn't hear and spoke, obviously, with their hands. His love for them spills over onto every page even when he's trying to trick them as a child during a parent-teacher conference. Spoiler alert: he didn't.

Merethebookgal This sounds like a beautiful story! I'm deaf in one ear, and so is my mom, but my aunt is completely deaf, and I know it's a struggle to interact with the hearing world where very few people know sign language. (I really need to learn it myself- I only know a few signs and have forgotten most of the alphabet from lack of practice!) 8y
LaurenAsh @Merethebookgal I'm with you! I used to know the alphabet, too, but haven't used it in forever, and I know that finger spelling takes so long, especially if you're trying to have a conversation. One of the cool things was reading about the signs that convey thoughts...the way that talking about something doesn't do it justice sometimes. Sign language can be like watching the abstract come to life. Very beautiful! 8y
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