This would have been such a wonderful book had it been written by a disabled person or even edited after a sensitivity read. One of the first things said about Benjamin is something about historians have concluded he was disabled but “there’s no evidence to show he thought of himself as defective or less than”…the fuck???? Like, obviously the author sees disability as a negative and that informs the whole book. Also the use of ‘dwarf’ instead of ‘person with dwarfism’ is so glaring and rough.

It would have been interesting to read from someone who understands that his being visibly disabled ABSOLUTELY informed his activism and empathy for every vulnerable being. 

Also very weird that his famous kidnapping of a plantation owners son was barely a blip and not until the epilogue 🫠