Includes bibliographical references (pages 211-212).

Home truths : Plunging in ; Ups and downs ; Body in trouble ; Taking care -- The wider world : Opening doors, unlocking hearts ; Freeing choices ; Young and disabled ; Getting Byrned ; Writing west: a reclamation project ; Into the wider world. In Waist-High in the World, Mairs explores in her inimitable voice the subject that has always been in the background of her writing, but which she takes on here for the first time at book-length - disability and the way it shapes a life. The result is a brave and beautiful book that will open new worlds for readers. It begins with a disavowal ("I cannot begin to write this book ... I don't want to think about my crippled life") and ends with a declaration of hope ("I choose joy"). In between, Mairs gives us a brilliant portrait of an issue and experience too rarely portrayed and talked about. She begins with subjects close to home: the personal history of her disease, the intimate realities of the body, the moral economy of care and caregiving, life with her husband and children. The second half of the book covers topics that look outward: women with disabilities, obstacles physical and social, the ethics of selective abortion and euthanasia, the joys and troubles of travel, and more.