What Does It Mean to be Blind? A Writer Chronicles the Loss of His Vision.

Books Update|What Does It Mean to be Blind? A Writer Chronicles the Loss of His Vision.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/17/books/booksupdate/country-blind-andrew-leland.html

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What Does It Mean to be Blind? A Writer Chronicles the Loss of His Vision.

In “The Country of the Blind,” Andrew Leland explores the history, the culture and the experiences of blind people.

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In his book, Andrew Leland explores what it means to be blind. Credit…Tony Luong for The New York Times

By Robert Ito

July 17, 2023

In 2019, Andrew Leland began writing a book about blindness, even as he was going steadily blind himself.

Working as his vision deteriorated gave him an insider’s perspective — who better to write about the blind than the blind? — but, as he learned, also made writing and reporting the book something of a trial.

He’d jot down notes with fat-tipped pens during interviews so he could more readily see what he was writing; later, he used a six-button Braille display, an electronic note-taking tool that he was still mastering. “When I downloaded my notes onto [...]