Through exploring the peritext of Cockeyed, as scholarly readers we can begin to understand the ways in which Ryan Knighton (the author) pushes literary boundaries when discussing his “disability”. I explored the peritext by reading three reviews (Amazon, Goodreads, and Publishers Weekly).

Knighton avidly uses (dark/crude) humour and raw honesty to communicate his personal growth as a man, who happens to be blind. The book Signifying Bodies by G.T. Couser explores the way in which auto biographies written by/about people with disabilities are often reiterate the misinterpreted perception of people with disabilities. (Couser page 31-48) With reference to Couser’s text, I looked at the way Knighton tries to take away the stereotype that one’s disability needs to be “overcome” and therefore how that idea is received/ interpreted by readers.

“The theory of narrative identity postulates that individuals form an identity by integrating their life experiences into an internalized, evolving story of the self, which provides the individual with a sense of unity and purpose in life.” (Wikipedia)

With regards to the statement above we can comprehend why the author referred to his text as a memoir- which falls under the umbrella of life narrative- instead of an autobiography. The way in which the author focuses (while still giving enough contextual backstory  to be comprehensible) on life during and after his blindness allows the readers to decipher the meaning behind the text. 
Ryan Knighton, is autobiographically taking us on a journey through his blindness- that being because his loss of sight was gradual occurrence that he too had to venture through. As a scholar, I believe the author is speaking autobiographically because he is illustrating that his “disability” did not hinder his growth and development as a teenage boy. Knighton’s disability allowed him to experience a different way of growing up. One could almost refer to him as an “international” or “third culture kid”.

The author could to some extent be referred to as a “third culture kid” because he built a relationship to seeing culture and at an older age is forced to build a relationship with blind culture (blind culture being outside the culture of his family and friends). He has no concrete ownership of either because his memory diminishes along side his sight (TCK World). Ryan Knighton no longer feels he belongs in the same culture as his family because he can no longer see, but he also does not feel he belongs in disabled culture (later grows to accept this, but that is much later on in his life) . 

A lot of life narratives written by people with “disabilities”- that being blindness, loss of hearing, being mute, handicapped, etc.- tend to be written as a success story, the ways in which they have overcome and learned to live with their disabilities (Couser). The life narratives make it seem as though the normal, everyday things that people with disabilities are doing are extraordinary or amazing, simply because it is done by people with disabilities. Words such as “success”, “survival”, and “inspiring” are used in titles and descriptions of the book.

One apparent pattern when reading reviews on Ryan Knighton’s text is that his audience did not pity him or his disability. Although it is sad that he gradually lost his ability to see, the writer tells his story in such a way that the encourages the audience to laugh, soak in the severe awkwardness that is adolescence and fumble alongside him.

Audiences tend to “sap up” coming of age stories because people like to feel as though they are not alone, humans want to feel that they fit they socially constructed mold of what growing up should be- the writer makes his life narrative seem like a coming of age story, the only difference being that Knighton happens to be going blind. The reviewers acknowlege the fact that his eyesight, or lack there of does not hold him back and there is an underlying element of respect that is evident in all of the reviews. It is clear that the audience admires his work, not because he was able to write the book considering his disability but rather because of the content of the text- the author is consistently described as “talented” or “gifted” because of his style of writing and the effect it has on the readers.

Ryan Knighton is perceived (by the readers who wrote the reviews cited above) as a humourous and witty man, who knows how to make a seemingly traumatizing and crippling situation, plump with head nods in agreement and boisterous laughter. The reviewers indicate that the writer brought his story to life, making it close to visible in the mind of the reader- an ironic factor considering the book is about the author going blind.

“My purpose is to tell of bodies which have been transformed into shapes of a different kind…” (Metamorphosis)

– Ryan Knighton uses that quote in the acknowledgements page of Cockeyed

The book is to some extent seen as a travelogue of sorts, simply because the audience feels as though they are being taken on an adventure. One reviewer in particular surmised the thoughts of many others “this book was that it’s not really a story about blindness but more a story of the life of a blind man” (Good Reads Review). The audience notes that Cockeyed pushes them to feel a variety of emotions- they pity the writer because of what is happening to him, but that is a result of human nature, his pathos and the sympathy we feel for those with disabilities forces readers to feel that way. However, Ryan Knighton, so to speak, drags the audience out of that mindset and urges them to pay attention to his life narrative rather than his disability.

References

Jack, Ian. “When Autobiography Becomes Memoir”. the Guardian. N.p., 2003. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.

“Ryan Knighton”. Ryanknighton.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.