Helen Keller: The Story of My Life (Dover Thrift Editions)

Helen Keller: The Story of My Life (Dover Thrift Editions)
by Helen Keller

Helen Keller: The Story of My Life (Dover Thrift Editions)
List Price: $2.00
Our Price: $0.48
You Save: $1.52 (76%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.35 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Helen Keller
Brand: Dover Publications
Editor: Candace Ward
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1996-09-18
ISBN: 0486292495
Number of pages: 80
Publisher: Dover Publications

Book Reviews of Helen Keller: The Story of My Life (Dover Thrift Editions)

Book Review: I had the destinct pleasure of meeting Ms. Keller personally
Summary: 5 Stars

I was about 8 years old, my grandmother had a "bed and breakfast" type of house in Garmisch, Germany, I was on my way home from school and had picked some flowers for her "B & B" tables, when I saw a lady with awhite cane, I gave her the flowers which I had picked for my grandma, The lady to whom I gave the flowers was Ms. Keller, the lady accompanying her was Ms. Sullivan. The next day, my teacher at school asked me to her office. Thinking that I was in trouble (again) I was worried about what was going on. She asked me where I had met Helen Keller; To which I replied "Helen who??" , She then explained to me who Helen Keller was. My grandmother and I then were invited to one of the finer hotels in Garmisch to have dinner with Ms Keller and Ms Sullivan. At which time she presented me with a hardcover of her book "The story of my life". What I belive makes this book special is the fact that Ms Keller wrote a note to me In GERMAN, she wrote: "An meiner kleine freund der meine hand froh machte mit 'Primrosen', eine botschft from fruehling mit liebe Helen Keller" In rough translation: "To my little friend, who made my hand happy with a message of spring with love Hellen Keller". This book is most certainly one of my most price posessions.

Summary of Helen Keller: The Story of My Life (Dover Thrift Editions)

Great story of human courage and dedication recounted in autobiography of a remarkable woman: the magical moment when Miss Keller first recognizes the connection between words and objects, her joy at learning how to speak, friendships with notable figures, her education at Radcliffe and an extraordinary relationship with her inspired teacher, Anne Sullivan.

Helen Keller would not be bound by conditions. Rendered deaf and blind at 19 months by scarlet fever, she learned to read (in several languages) and even speak, eventually graduating with honors from Radcliffe College in 1904, where as a student she wrote The Story of My Life. That she accomplished all of this in an age when few women attended college and the disabled were often relegated to the background, spoken of only in hushed tones, is remarkable. But Keller's many other achievements are impressive by any standard: she authored 13 books, wrote countless articles, and devoted her life to social reform. An active and effective suffragist, pacifist, and socialist (the latter association earned her an FBI file), she lectured on behalf of disabled people everywhere. She also helped start several foundations that continue to improve the lives of the deaf and blind around the world.

As a young girl Keller was obstinate, prone to fits of violence, and seething with rage at her inability to express herself. But at the age of 7 this wild child was transformed when, at the urging of Alexander Graham Bell, Anne Sullivan became her teacher, an event she declares "the most important day I remember in all my life." (Sullivan herself had once been blind, but partially recovered her sight after a series of operations.) In a memorable passage, Keller writes of the day "Teacher" led her to a stream and repeatedly spelled out the letters w-a-t-e-r on one of her hands while pouring water over the other. This method proved a revelation: "That living world awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! There were barriers still, it is true, but barriers that could in time be swept away." And, indeed, most of them were.

In her lovingly crafted and deeply perceptive autobiography, Keller's joyous spirit is most vividly expressed in her connection to nature:

Indeed, everything that could hum, or buzz, or sing, or bloom, had a part in my education.... Few know what joy it is to feel the roses pressing softly into the hand, or the beautiful motion of the lilies as they sway in the morning breeze. Sometimes I caught an insect in the flower I was plucking, and I felt the faint noise of a pair of wings rubbed together in a sudden terror....

The idea of feeling rather than hearing a sound, or of admiring a flower's motion rather than its color, evokes a strong visceral sensation in the reader, giving The Story of My Life a subtle power and beauty. Keller's celebration of discovery becomes our own. In the end, this blind and deaf woman succeeds in sharpening our eyes and ears to the beauty of the world. --Shawn Carkonen

Women Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Women Books
Lopsided: A Memoir ImageLopsided: A Memoir
by Meredith Norton
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2009-05-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops: $15.00
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia ImageEat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
by Elizabeth Gilbert
Penguin Audio; Published: 2006-02-16; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $19.99
Price in other shops: $39.95
Epilogue: A Memoir ImageEpilogue: A Memoir
by Anne Roiphe
Harper; Published: 2008-08-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.44
Price in other shops: $24.95
Summer at Tiffany LP ImageSummer at Tiffany LP
by Marjorie Hart
HarperLuxe; Published: 2007-04-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.45
Price in other shops: $15.99
Why Women Should Rule the World ImageWhy Women Should Rule the World
by Dee Dee Myers
Harper; Published: 2008-02-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.40
Price in other shops: $24.95
Mother Teresa: A Complete Authorized Biography ImageMother Teresa: A Complete Authorized Biography
by Kathryn Spink
Harpercollins; Published: 1997-10-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.99
Price in other shops: $23.00
Going Rogue LP: An American Life ImageGoing Rogue LP: An American Life
by Sarah Palin
HarperLuxe; Published: 2009-11-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.42
Price in other shops: $28.99
Model Patient: My Life As an Incurable Wise-Ass ImageModel Patient: My Life As an Incurable Wise-Ass
by Karen Duffy
Harper Paperbacks; Published: 2001-11-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.25
Price in other shops: $13.00
Clear Springs: A Family Story ImageClear Springs: A Family Story
by Bobbie Ann Mason
Harper Perennial; Published: 2000-04-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.90
Price in other shops: $14.95
Truth & Beauty ImageTruth & Beauty
by Ann Patchett
HarperAudio; Published: 2004-05-11; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $3.36
Price in other shops: $25.95
Similar Books and other products
Moving Violations: War Zones, Wheelchairs, and Declarations of Independence ImageMoving Violations: War Zones, Wheelchairs, and Declarations of Independence
by John Hockenberry
Hyperion; Published: 1996-06-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.57
Price in other shops: $15.99
The Story of My Life: The Restored Edition (Modern Library Classics) ImageThe Story of My Life: The Restored Edition (Modern Library Classics)
by Helen Keller
Modern Library; Published: 2004-03-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.61
Price in other shops: $14.00
The Miracle Worker ImageThe Miracle Worker
Buena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2001-05-08; DVD
Best price: $6.04
Price in other shops: $14.99
LIGHT IN MY DARKNESS ImageLIGHT IN MY DARKNESS
by HELEN KELLER
Chrysalis Books; Published: 2000-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.28
Price in other shops: $13.95
The Miracle Worker ImageThe Miracle Worker
Release date: 2010-04-16; Amazon Instant Video; Movie
Best price: $2.99
The World I Live In and Optimism: A Collection of Essays (Dover Books on Literature & Drama) ImageThe World I Live In and Optimism: A Collection of Essays (Dover Books on Literature & Drama)
by Helen Keller
Dover Publications; Published: 2010-01-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.28
Price in other shops: $5.95
The Story of My Life (Signet Classics) ImageThe Story of My Life (Signet Classics)
by Helen Keller
Signet Classics; Published: 2010-06-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.16
Price in other shops: $4.95
Helen Keller:  A photographic story of a life (DK Biography) ImageHelen Keller: A photographic story of a life (DK Biography)
by Leslie Garrett
DK CHILDREN; Published: 2004-08-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.09
Price in other shops: $5.99
Helen Keller (Scholastic Biography) ImageHelen Keller (Scholastic Biography)
by Margaret Davidson
Scholastic Paperbacks; Published: 1989-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.29
Price in other shops: $5.99
The Miracle Worker ImageThe Miracle Worker
MGM; Release date: 2001-03-06; DVD
Best price: $7.25
Price in other shops: $14.98
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories