In March, blind poet and writing professor Stephen Kuusisto released Have Dog, Will Travel: A Poet’s Journey — a memoir about his life with his first guide dog, Corky. This is an exceptional book that will resonate with a wide audience beyond the obvious blind people and guide dog handlers. Kuusisto was featured on the PBS News Hour; you’ll enjoy this preview of the book!
I reviewed the book for Wordgathering: A Journal of Disability Poetry and Literature, and the essay went live today. Here’s how it begins:
Corky, a singular yellow Labrador, transforms the gossamer existence of a blind poet. The extraordinary dog bounces in with generosity and poise, what Stephen Kuusisto calls her ‘keen affection.’ This is the shining through-line of Kuusisto’s latest book, Have Dog, Will Travel: A Poet’s Journey, released by Simon & Schuster in March, 2018.
Readers of Kuusisto’s earlier essays will recognize some of the themes he invokes here: the mother in denial, the hostile or incongruous strangers, the need to accept and remake himself. But Have Dog, Will Travel offers a perspective that is more optimistic than Planet of the Blind or Eavesdropping. It is a book that relentlessly pushes old ideas aside. The reader can feel Corky and Kuusisto’s forward motion, a consistent meter that rewrites Kuusisto’s whole life.
Read the full review here! And don’t forget to check out the rest of the wonderful content in the summer issue.
On the Blink 
For some reason, I was not able to open the “Read More” link, but even the short section I could read made me want to check out this book for myself. So, thank you, Emily, for introducing him in your blog. Will see if I can get the book on Kindle from Amazon.
Lois, here’s the link: http://www.wordgathering.com/issue46/reviews/kuusisto.html
I’m also going to fix the hyperlink above.
Thanks for completing the link for me, Emily. Your review of the book was perceptive, sensitive and obviously based on your own personal experience with York!