I picked up this book in a charity shop as I was struck by its unique cover. When I read the back and realised it was a collection of short stories about deaf characters written by a deaf author, it was a no brainer. While I unfortunately found a fair few of these stories too quick and underdeveloped to leave much of impression, some of the stories are stellar and the work this book does to dispel preconceived notions of what a deaf person should do or should be like is brilliant. These characters party, run away from home, take risks, hitchhike, get high, do crime - and they’re deaf. One of my favourites was Window Washer, following a deaf man who is briefly allowed into people’s homes to wash their windows, allowed to see the detritus of their lives. He’s also often taken advantage of, as clients think his deafness also makes him stupid. A lot of these stories rightly highlight the ignorance and arrogance of hearing folk - why is the onus on deaf people to make themselves understood rather than hearing folk making any type of effort? King Eddie was another good one, centred around a criminal gang, highlighting the lack of legitimate opportunities for deaf people.

Overall glad I read it, very glad it exists, a few too many stories fell short, but an important piece of collection!