cover image The Blind Man Game: A Memoir of Art, Activism and Adaptation

The Blind Man Game: A Memoir of Art, Activism and Adaptation

Paul Boskind. Amplify, $30 (248p) ISBN 979-8-89138-207-7

Psychologist and LGBTQ+ activist Boskind recounts his experiences with a rare genetic eye disease in this uneven debut. Boskind grew up in Texas with a father who was a “wheeler-dealer and a gambler,” and whose financial recklessness constantly put the family on edge. As a result, Boskind developed a robust work ethic. In college, he was diagnosed with Stargardt disease, a type of macular degeneration that affects young people; after graduating, he began a doctorate in psychology, working frantically to complete it before his sight worsened. Much of the account alternates between descriptions of Boskind’s professional successes and his romantic tumults, though the choppy chronology can make it difficult to track the sequence of events. Some of the professional sections shade into off-putting self-regard (“I don’t want to sound arrogant, but most therapists were nowhere near as good as me. I got so many referrals”), and passages about Boskind’s political activism on behalf of LGBTQ+ people oscillate between inspiring and name-droppy. The author is stronger when focusing on his emotional life and the concrete challenges of Stargardt disease, which he illuminates with stark poignancy. While this has its moments, Boskind too often gets in his own way. (Jan.)