Double Take audiobook

3.5 starsI enjoyed reading about Kevin's upbringing, particularly how his parents did their best to prepare him for navigating the world on his own, never babying him because of his condition. And I was impressed with his sense of adventure, doing so much travelling at a young age and all on his own. While his story is inspiring, you can tell that it's written by a young person who has learned and experienced a lot in his life but still has a ways to go to grow and change. I'm glad I finished it (especially as it had been sitting on my shelf for probably a decade), but I don't think I'd recommend it or read it again.

For a man who didn't think he had a story to tell he sure is one helluva story teller and clever writer. I loved the concept of his cathartic decision to take his own photos of the gawkers even though he chastised himself for doing that at one point. I also really enjoyed the relationship he had with his father, who was willing to do just about anything to support his son. This is a very quick read that I highly recommend.

Born with no legs, Kevin doesn't let that slow him down or stop him from pursuing his dreams. It is also a testament to family and the role they play in the journey of life. The title refers to all the double takes he sees throughout the many countries he travels to. Kevin has a way with words that make this a good read. Don't expect a sappy "poor as me," book. There is a lot of humour throughout.

Getting into reading and was able to fall in love with this book quickly. I love to travel and take photos so this was up my alley. Would like to meet Kevin in person and go take photos and hope to find a project he decided to follow. Give it a read you won't regret it.

The cover drew me in during a bookstore excursion, and when I flipped through I was delighted to see a lot of photography interspersed. Kevin (because we're close like that) was born without legs. It's not a disease or the result of anything his mother did or didn't do - it just happened. But his book isn't about that. Well, ok, to an extent it is, because you can't just gloss over something like that. But I guess because he was born that way, he didn't have much adjusting to do. It was simply how he always lived. As a kid, he played like everyone else – running around getting dirty, getting into trouble - but he walked with his hands. He addresses some of the problems with bullies, trying to ask girls out, typical school stuff. On the other hand, he talks about being fitted for prosthetic legs that made him look "normal" but didn't help him walk, how his mom hemmed special pants for him, and how exciting it was to finally buy a pair of shoes. When these topics came up, I had to pause for a second and remember why they were noteworthy; it was easy to forget he doesn't have legs. Every other line wasn't a "pity me!" statement - in fact, it was the opposite.Kevin became a skier and competed in the X Games. With the money he won for finishing 2nd place, he bought a camera and traveled to foreign countries on a skateboard. From this unique angle, he captured the stares he'd been getting all his life. The results are some great stories, interesting introspection, and a set of amazing photographs. It made me think of Adam Shepard's Scratch Beginnings, even though I feel like the two shouldn't really be compared. The only similarities are that they're written by two young men (it makes me proud to be in their age bracket) who are trying to make a difference in some small way. Adam (because WE'RE close like that...) wanted to prove that the American Dream was still alive - and wrote a really inspiring book about it. Kevin addresses a lot of the things strangers thought about him regarding why he was legless and what he was capable of. In a different way, I also found his story inspiring: it made me think about assumptions, personal goals, proving people wrong, etc.

This book was a fairly quick read. The chapters are concise and reader friendly. The photographs from the author’s photo project definitely set the tone for the book, and are a creative thread holding the narrative together. I read this book to add to my repertoire of disability memoirs, though at a point in the book Connolly points out that he does not identify himself as disabled, which was an insightful commentary in his range of experiences. I had a few issues with some of the way the narration went, but those are the same issues I have with a lot of memoirs, so I’ll leave that to me being nit-picky with the genre and move on. His photo project (in which he travels to different countries and photographed people staring at him) takes central focus and I found the most interesting part to be when he had doubts and regrets about the project, even considering not finishing it. His experiences of how people from other cultures and social histories react to his legless-ness was at times jarring, but I think a necessary point to make. For example, the fact that in America, traveling by skateboard is independent and individualistic, was seen as undignified in other countries. Connolly also comments on the need of people to apply a social/emotional context to his physical state, from war to disease to accident -- merely stating “I was born without them” wasn’t good enough in some cases.Overall, I enjoyed this book. At times the narrative may have felt cut short, but the perspective Connolly brings to the reader can be applied to many personal experiences and areas of study.

Double Take, A Memoir by Kevin Michael Connolly (pp 227). This memoir is largely built around a photography project best described by the author: “This photography has allowed me to use my leglessness as a way to create an art project that otherwise would have been impossible to create.” The genesis of the photography was an attempt to capture photos of the almost inevitable downward-looking stares Connolly endured while moving about the world. The author’s reaction to being the object of pity, curiosity, and confusion ranged from understanding to annoyance to anger. Not until he found himself in Sarajevo staring at a man with missing limbs from war, finding himself silently asking “what the happened to him?” did he second guess his motivations for his project. This memoir has no neat wrap up, concluding epiphany, or insight into the human condition. Rather, it tells the story of a person born without legs and his experiences dealing with virtually everyone around him (except family) who considered him handicapped. Importantly, it is not what some people call inspiration porn, i.e. an inspirational story based on a person’s disability. It is about family, competition, love, travel, and growing up: the stuff of life. In fact, it’s not overtly inspiring, so don’t read it if you want to get a golden glow of goodness. Spoiler alert: in the end he does NOT get the girl. Again, the stuff of life.

This was strangely fascinating. The author was born without legs in a small town in Montana to parents who really encouraged him to be independent. Over the years, he tried both artificial legs and a wheelchair, but found both methods of transport confining, and ultimately crafted himself a little skateboard that he whizzed around on very expeditiously. Since he never had legs, he didn't really feel badly about his condition, and there was very little he couldn't do, including skiing in the X games. But he noticed that when he travelled during his college years that people looked down on him on his skateboard with a mixture of revusion, pity and sadness that he did not experience when he was in a wheelchair. One day he had his camera with him down on his skateboard, and with his head turned, surreptitiously snapped photos of people he knew were staring down at him. Wondering what reaction he would get from different cultures around the world, he used his X games prize money to finance a world wide adventure where he snapped 33,000 pictures of people staring at him when they didn't realize he had a camera. It's hard to imagine being stared at with real pity and horror by 33,000 people. He once had a New York City traffic cop look down at him and gasp, "What the f -- happened to you??!!" I really give the young author props for his bravery and insistence on living his life on his own terms.

A memoir by a 23-year old would not normally sound promising, but this one is highly engaging. Author was born without legs and describes how that affected dating, finding an outlet for his interest in competitive sports (frustrating to have to just watch h.s. football; didn't take to wrestling; found his niche in skiing so well that he earned lots of money via the X games, has sponsors, etc.), being mobile enough to keep up with girlfriend and family in getting around (rides a "longboard" on his hands), etc.The main theme, though, is his learning to accept others' reactions to him. The stares, the question ("what happened to you?"), the pity, and the unwanted attention bother him tremendously. He turns this issue into an art project by travelling internationally on his X Games winnings and taking pictures (one is reprinted here at the start of each chapter) of people staring at him. Develops some empathy for others by noticing his own automatic desire to take a second look at a guy he encounters in Europe who had lost an arm and a leg in combat.Very well-written. Hard to put my finger on just what I liked so much about it, as the nutshell version is pretty much what you would expect given his condition (people react to the sight of him; it gets tiresome for him). I guess it's just that he comes across as very curious about life, his family, people in general and brings you along for the ride.

I don't remember where I heard this book mentioned, but it looked interesting. Kevin Connolly is a 23 year old from Montana who happened to be born without legs. The book is a combination of two basic story ideas: living as normal of a life as possible, and the chronicles of a journey around the world to photograph people's reactions to him.I liked the way the book was put together. Each chapter had a photo at the beginning that came from his collection, then the chapter was like a written snapshot from a period of his life. I don't know if he did it that way on purpose, but it seemed very appropriate considering the photo journey that prompted the book as well as his young age. I couldn't help but be impressed with the author and his attitude about life. He is very honest in describing his experiences and the feelings that he has had. The two quotes that I found the most intriguing were [sorry, I can't find the exact wording:] when he said that he wondered how he would react if he had a disabled child, and, "...I don't think of myself as 'disabled'. As I interpret the word, you are only disabled if you are incapable of overcoming the challenges presented in any given situation." The quote continues, basically saying that if in a given situation you choose to 'sit on the sidelines' then you are unable to do that particular thing - and thus, disabled.

Really a great memoir. Picked this up while watching X-games hoping for a book to meet my insatiable skiing needs...but found much, much more. The book most closely chronicles Connolly's mission to create a photo project capturing the stares he's been given all his life for being born without legs. Along the way, the insights we get into his experiences, both the sameness and the differences, are very open, reflective, poignant and emotional- without being self-indulgent. Connolly didn't set out to write a memoir that would be a hero's victory march but rather stayed true to his experiences, some uplifting and some heart wrenching but all real. I may be wrong but as far as I can tell, there was not a ghost writer and Connolly's writing was also great - keeping great flow, smoothness and vividness while still being able to drop the F-bomb and maintain his true voice - a task I imagine to be quite difficult for a 24 year old writer who just finished the x-games! Great guy - would love to get on a chair lift or bar stool and bs.

I enjoyed Connolly's memoir immensely. Connolly definitely kept my attention and managed to detail his birth deformity and the ensuing heartaches and triumphs in a very positive and informative way. Connolly traveled around the world alone despite the fact that he has no legs. His mode of transport is a skateboard, and a mission along the way was to capture as many people's reaction to the sight of him as possible on camera. He captured hundreds of photos of people's expressions when they are first registering his condition, and the response varies greatly. His story was inspiring and heart touching, and the telling of it was excellent in my opinion. Connolly is actually only in his 20s, as of the writing of this book, and if he chronicles any more of his story I would definitely read it. Some have stated that he is too young to have written a memoir, but in my opinion when you have a story to tell, age is unimportant. His story was worth telling, and worth reading.

Kevin Michael Connolly was born without legs. He got around by dragging his butt on the ground while walking with his hands. His parents brought him up like his sisters, believing he can do anything.For the quote "I began bringing my wheelchair to school in fourth grade. We had just started switching rooms for different classes and the chair kept me off the ground when other students flooded the hallways. But for all the wheelchair's practicality, it brought about the first realization that I was handicapped."Kudos to his parents to raise him to believe in himself, to overlook his limitations and to not consider a lack of legs a handicap. Kevin is a brave, young man. He traveled the world alone at 22 years old, with little money and no legs! I'm amazed by his self-sufficiency.