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     The Four Walls of My Freedom
    Quick View {"id":6816116670523,"title":"The Four Walls of My Freedom","handle":"the-four-walls-of-my-freedom","description":"\u003cp\u003eA riveting and redemptive family memoir, \u003cem\u003eThe Four Walls of My Freedom\u003c\/em\u003e is Donna Thomson’s account of raising a son with cerebral palsy and a passionate appeal to change the way we think about “the good life.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDonna Thomson’s life was forever changed when her son Nicholas was born with cerebral palsy. A former actor, director, and teacher, Donna became his primary caregiver and embarked on a second career as a disability activist, author, and consultant.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThomson vividly describes her experience in treading delicately through daily care, emergencies, and medical bureaucracy as she and her family cope with her son’s condition while maintaining value and dignity (for Nicholas, too). She brilliantly demonstrates the vital contribution that people with disabilities make to our society and addresses the ethics and economics of giving and receiving care.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFeaturing an introduction by John Ralston Saul, and two new chapters, \u003cem\u003eThe Four Walls of My Freedom\u003c\/em\u003e is a passionate appeal to change to the way we think about the “good life” that will touch anyone caring for the life of another.\u003c\/p\u003e","published_at":"2022-03-25T14:25:44-04:00","created_at":"2022-03-25T11:54:10-04:00","vendor":"House of Anansi Press Inc","type":"","tags":["Adult Nonfiction","By (author) Thomson Donna","House of Anansi Press","Introduction by Saul John Ralston","pub date: 2014-01-13"],"price":1300,"price_min":1300,"price_max":1500,"available":true,"price_varies":true,"compare_at_price":null,"compare_at_price_min":0,"compare_at_price_max":0,"compare_at_price_varies":false,"variants":[{"id":40213539717179,"title":"trade paperback","option1":"trade paperback","option2":null,"option3":null,"sku":"9781770894792","requires_shipping":true,"taxable":true,"featured_image":null,"available":true,"name":"The Four Walls of My Freedom - trade paperback","public_title":"trade paperback","options":["trade paperback"],"price":1500,"weight":299,"compare_at_price":null,"inventory_management":"shopify","barcode":"9781770894792","requires_selling_plan":false,"selling_plan_allocations":[],"quantity_rule":{"min":1,"max":null,"increment":1}},{"id":40213636284475,"title":"epub","option1":"epub","option2":null,"option3":null,"sku":"9781770894808","requires_shipping":false,"taxable":true,"featured_image":null,"available":true,"name":"The Four Walls of My Freedom - epub","public_title":"epub","options":["epub"],"price":1300,"weight":0,"compare_at_price":null,"inventory_management":null,"barcode":"9781770894808","requires_selling_plan":false,"selling_plan_allocations":[],"quantity_rule":{"min":1,"max":null,"increment":1}},{"id":40213636579387,"title":"mobi","option1":"mobi","option2":null,"option3":null,"sku":"9781770899117","requires_shipping":false,"taxable":true,"featured_image":null,"available":true,"name":"The Four Walls of My Freedom - mobi","public_title":"mobi","options":["mobi"],"price":1300,"weight":0,"compare_at_price":null,"inventory_management":null,"barcode":"9781770899117","requires_selling_plan":false,"selling_plan_allocations":[],"quantity_rule":{"min":1,"max":null,"increment":1}}],"images":["\/\/houseofanansi.com\/cdn\/shop\/products\/BNCImageAPI_16ff6f5e-41db-4424-966c-35dff5acf10d.jpg?v=1679036142"],"featured_image":"\/\/houseofanansi.com\/cdn\/shop\/products\/BNCImageAPI_16ff6f5e-41db-4424-966c-35dff5acf10d.jpg?v=1679036142","options":["Title"],"media":[{"alt":null,"id":23338995548219,"position":1,"preview_image":{"aspect_ratio":0.625,"height":2400,"width":1500,"src":"\/\/houseofanansi.com\/cdn\/shop\/products\/BNCImageAPI_16ff6f5e-41db-4424-966c-35dff5acf10d.jpg?v=1679036142"},"aspect_ratio":0.625,"height":2400,"media_type":"image","src":"\/\/houseofanansi.com\/cdn\/shop\/products\/BNCImageAPI_16ff6f5e-41db-4424-966c-35dff5acf10d.jpg?v=1679036142","width":1500}],"requires_selling_plan":false,"selling_plan_groups":[],"content":"\u003cp\u003eA riveting and redemptive family memoir, \u003cem\u003eThe Four Walls of My Freedom\u003c\/em\u003e is Donna Thomson’s account of raising a son with cerebral palsy and a passionate appeal to change the way we think about “the good life.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDonna Thomson’s life was forever changed when her son Nicholas was born with cerebral palsy. A former actor, director, and teacher, Donna became his primary caregiver and embarked on a second career as a disability activist, author, and consultant.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThomson vividly describes her experience in treading delicately through daily care, emergencies, and medical bureaucracy as she and her family cope with her son’s condition while maintaining value and dignity (for Nicholas, too). She brilliantly demonstrates the vital contribution that people with disabilities make to our society and addresses the ethics and economics of giving and receiving care.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFeaturing an introduction by John Ralston Saul, and two new chapters, \u003cem\u003eThe Four Walls of My Freedom\u003c\/em\u003e is a passionate appeal to change to the way we think about the “good life” that will touch anyone caring for the life of another.\u003c\/p\u003e"} {"AlsoRecommendedISBN_0":"9781487002770","AlsoRecommendedISBN_1":"9781770891005","AlsoRecommendedISBN_2":"9781770894778","BASICMainSubject":"FAM012000","BASICMainSubjectLiteral":"FAMILY \u0026 RELATIONSHIPS\/Children with Special Needs","BiographicalNote":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDONNA THOMSON\u003c\/strong\u003e began her career as an actor, director, and teacher. But in 1988, when her son Nicholas was born with severe disabilities, Donna embarked on her second career as a disability activist, author, and consultant. She is married to James Wright, the former High Commissioner for Canada in the UK. Their previous postings have been in London, Washington, DC, and Moscow. Jim and Donna have two children and live in Ottawa, Canada.\u003c\/p\u003e","BISACSubjectLiteral_0":"FAMILY \u0026amp; RELATIONSHIPS \\\/ Children with Special Needs","BISACSubject_0":"FAM012000","ContributorBio_0":"Donna Thomson is a disability activist, author, and consultant. \u003cem\u003eThe Four Walls of My Freedom\u003c\\\/em\u003e is her first book.","ContributorBio_1":"John Ralston Saul was elected President of International PEN in October 2009. He is author of a number of national bestsellers, including \u003cem\u003eVoltaire's Bastards, The Doubter's Companion\u003c\\\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Unconscious Civilization\u003c\\\/em\u003e, which won the Governor General's Literary Award for Non-Fiction and the Gordon Montador Award for Best Canadian Book on Social Issues. He lives in Toronto.","ContributorRole_0":"By (author)","ContributorRole_1":"Introduction by","Contributor_0":"Thomson, Donna (CA)","Contributor_1":"Saul, John Ralston (CA)","Description":"\u003cp\u003eA riveting and redemptive family memoir, \u003cem\u003eThe Four Walls of My Freedom\u003c\/em\u003e is Donna Thomson’s account of raising a son with cerebral palsy and a passionate appeal to change the way we think about “the good life.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDonna Thomson’s life was forever changed when her son Nicholas was born with cerebral palsy. A former actor, director, and teacher, Donna became his primary caregiver and embarked on a second career as a disability activist, author, and consultant.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThomson vividly describes her experience in treading delicately through daily care, emergencies, and medical bureaucracy as she and her family cope with her son’s condition while maintaining value and dignity (for Nicholas, too). She brilliantly demonstrates the vital contribution that people with disabilities make to our society and addresses the ethics and economics of giving and receiving care.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFeaturing an introduction by John Ralston Saul, and two new chapters, \u003cem\u003eThe Four Walls of My Freedom\u003c\/em\u003e is a passionate appeal to change to the way we think about the “good life” that will touch anyone caring for the life of another.\u003c\/p\u003e","EAN":"9781770899117","excerpt_0":"https:\\\/\\\/biblioshare.org\\\/BNCservices\\\/BNCServices.asmx\\\/Samples?token=fcf85c1c1b298e99\u0026amp;ean=9781770899117\u0026amp;SAN=\u0026amp;Perspective=excerpt\u0026amp;FileNumber=0","Height":"8","HeightCode":"in","Imprint":"House of Anansi Press","MetaKeywords":"Children with Special Needs","NumberOfPages":"288","OtherText_Accolades_0":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eI am so impressed and so moved to get a copy of The Four Walls of My Freedom...\u003c\\\/strong\u003eIt is a wonderful book which is inspiring, informative, and deeply encouraging. And of course I am also very grateful personally to you for your very kind words. It has been a wonderful pleasure for me to meet you and to learn about and be inspired by your ideas on this subject. Your particular insights and engagements make the general commitment we try to advance so much easier to understand, appreciate, and use as guidance.\u003c\\\/p\u003e","OtherText_Accolades_0_Auth":"Amartya Sen","OtherText_Accolades_1":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eI am deeply moved by this book. \u003c\\\/strong\u003eIt is about being human, finding wisdom and learning to live in the face of pain. It is about seeing under the suffering and needs of people with disabilities, their value and beauty, their uniqueness and dignity. \u003cstrong\u003eThis book should be read by all who seek to understand what it means to be human.\u003c\\\/strong\u003e\u003c\\\/p\u003e","OtherText_Accolades_1_Auth":"Jean Vanier, founder of L'Arche","OtherText_Accolades_2":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Four Walls of My Freedom deals with a very hard situation with realism, grit, and optimism. It will resonate with many.\u003c\\\/strong\u003e\u003c\\\/p\u003e","OtherText_Accolades_2_Auth":"Margaret Atwood","OtherText_Accolades_3":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat does it mean to live 'a good life,' and how can we help the most vulnerable people around us to live life to the full? Donna Thomson provides some answers from personal experience in this engaging, challenging, life-enhancing book.\u003c\\\/strong\u003e\u003c\\\/p\u003e","OtherText_Accolades_3_Auth":"Ian Rankin","OtherText_Accolades_4":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e[A] tremendous piece of work. Elegant, honest and inspirational...Caring makes the world go round - it is critical to our individual, family and societal well being.\u003c\\\/strong\u003e\u003c\\\/p\u003e","OtherText_Accolades_4_Auth":"Vicki Cammack and Al Etmanski, co-founders of PLAN","OtherText_Review_0":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA clear-eyed look at the value of a life...\u003c\\\/strong\u003eWhat if a life was judged not by its monetary worth or possible economic benefit to society, but as a series of complex and rewarding relationships?\u003c\\\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_0_Src":"Globe and Mail","OtherText_Review_1":"\u003cp\u003eDonna Thomson's world changed utterly when she gave birth to a severely disabled son - with a wicked sense of humour...\u003cstrong\u003eshe makes a powerful case for caring to be accorded respect, and demands that we all think about what really matters\u003c\\\/strong\u003e.\u003c\\\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_1_Src":"The Times (UK)","OtherText_Review_2":"\u003cp\u003eA LIFELONG JOURNEY - What does it mean to be a good mother? How do you know if you are providing your child iwth the best possible quality of life? The Four Walls of My Freedom by Donna Thomson is an honest, intelligent account of raising a son born with cerebral palsy, describing a journey through motherhood where regular road maps don't apply. Loaded with info and insight, this book will resonate with those in a similar situation.\u003c\\\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_2_Src":"Erin Poetschke, Canadian Living Magazine","OtherText_Review_3":"\u003cp\u003eIn The Four Walls of My Freedom, Donna Thomson traces her family's experience with her son Nicholas' cerebral palsy from diagnosis to his recent 21st birthday. This is the story of the fine balance between caring for Nicholas's physical requirements while nurturing his spirit and tending the needs of the whole family. \u003cstrong\u003eThe personal is political in this book, which is clearly aimed at provoking thought about the rights of persons with disabilities to be valued in society and to live a meaningful life.\u003c\\\/strong\u003e\u003c\\\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_3_Src":"Abilities Magazine, Issue 84, Winter 2010\\\/2011","OtherText_ShortDescription_0":"Donna Thomson’s account of raising a son with cerebral palsy and a passionate appeal to change the way we think about “the good life.”","ProductFormDescription":"mobi","PublicationDate":"2014-01-13","Publisher":"House of Anansi Press Inc","ShortDescription":"Donna Thomson’s account of raising a son with cerebral palsy and a passionate appeal to change the way we think about “the good life.”","Width":"5","WidthCode":"in"}
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    The Four Walls of My Freedom

    Donna Thomson’s account of raising a son with cerebral palsy and a passionate appeal to change the way we think about “the good life.”

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