«All of us, whether we consider ourselves disabled or nondisabled, will understand more fully what it means to be human if we accompany Jan Grue in his rich travels from his story of limitation to his story of fulfillment»

Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, author of 'Extraordinary Bodies'

«In this nuanced and beautiful book, Grue takes us on both an experiential and intellectual journey through disability. In the process he offers us doorways into reimagining a world where disability is welcomed and vulnerability supported. I Live a Life Like Yours is one of those rare books you won't be able to put down, yet will want to return to again and again to random pages for the insights and reflections they offer. A gift to read»

Sunaura Taylor, author of 'Beasts of Burden'

«Jan Grue's superb book encompasses memoir, ideas and travel. It up-ends received wisdom about disability. It testifies to an uncrushable spirit and an ordinary, extraordinary family. It is humbling, dark, bright, defiant, smart, generous and - in its courteous Norwegian way - revolutionary»

David Mitchell, author of 'Cloud Atlas'

«A narrative that is compelling, unconventional and powerfully told... His genius becomes evident in his mastery of language»

Michael J. Fox, New York Times

«Grue is not in the defensive position of justifying his existence as a disabled body but instead he is engaged in a rich investigation of the (medical, intellectual and emotional) language of his past and how it has shaped his sense of self. This is a voice that has found inventive ways to imagine and frame disability and difference»

Raymond Antrobus, author of the Rathbones Folio Prize Winner 'The Perseverance'

«[Grue's] book-which doubles as a work of literary criticism and cultural history-is, yes, an elegant meditation on what it's like to be a body that does not resemble most other bodies, but it's also about aging, parenthood, memory, academia, and love. A tart and spare palate cleanser»

Vulture

«Sometimes you read a book where after a chapter or two you have to stop highlighting the bits that floor you or else you'll underline the entire text - and this is one of them... a profound, contemplative work about life with a disability, and life as a human being»

New Statesman

«Jan Grue has produced a remarkable book. It is philosophical, unsentimental and searingly honest. It confirms that disabled lives are both different and the same, and that engaging with the experience of them enriches us all»

Professor Stuart Murray, University of Leeds

«I recommend Norwegian writer Jan Grue's I Live a Life Like Yours... the writing and translation by BL Crook are strong and spare, very different from Knausgaard's account of a Norwegian youth but similarly shaped by immersion in philosophy, cultural history and literary criticism»

Sarah Moss, Irish Times

«This sensitive and beautiful book is full of understanding of the relationships we have with ourselves, our bodies, our loved ones and the society which surrounds us. Jan tells the story of how he came to his own understanding with exactness and poetry»

Jarred McGinnis, author of 'The Coward'

«Stunning... a restrained, dazzlingly intelligent and self-excavating examination of what it has meant to be disabled and visibly different... a meditation on what it is to be human, what it is to be lonely and full of hope and yearning... I started off by writing everything that most profoundly moved or excited me in I Live a Life Like Yours into my notebook, but quickly found I was copying out the book verbatim... It makes you read carefully and think feelingly and I'm grateful that it is now in my head and heart, working change»

Observer

«A remarkable reflection on disability and difference - parenthood, the body, and the self. Essential reading for anyone troubled by the question of whether or not they'll ever be able to feel like a human being»

Tom Whyman, author of 'Infinitely Full of Hope'

«This is a brilliant memoir - lyrical, fragmented - frank about love, about independence and interdependence, about the clinical gaze and internal ableism, about disabled anger as well as disabled joy»

The Bookseller

«Grue has pulled off that rarest of literary achievements: a compelling text that is both readable, personable and affecting and one that is undergirded with a careful deployment of social theory and philosophy. This book addresses the most important of questions - what does it mean to be human? - and offers answers with humour, love and care»

Professor Dan Goodley, University of Sheffield

«It would be hard to read this book and not empathise profoundly with its author. It is perhaps the perfect book to read if you are struggling for whatever reason to make sense of what it means to be disabled»

Literary Review

«Grue elegantly flows between memoir, essay, and intellectual discourse... He brilliantly articulates what it's like to be "erased and rewritten," and, more poignantly, what it's like to obliterate the narrative one's been handed. This stunning work isn't to be missed»

Publishers Weekly, starred review

«This book is a heartfelt and insightful story about accepting one's own body and limitations, and learning to love life as it is while remaining open to hope and discovery... Stunning writing with life-affirming reflections»

The Fountain

«In the vein of Maggie Nelson and Anne Boyer, Jan Grue combines ideas and stories to explore living with one's body's limitations. It's an important addition to the literature of disability»

Book Riot

«An exploration of identity, of premises, boundaries and transgressions in which Grue opens up a broad horizon in language that is free and refined. The outcome is literature of relevance and greatness»

Dagsavisen

«Jan Grue begins with a first person singular and ends with a first person plural, the family he has forged with his wife and son. Throughout the reading the reader also feels a part of his we, and to be incorporated into it feels utterly splendid and enriching in every way»

Literary Critics' Prize 2018 - Judges' Comments

«Great language, enormous skill and a great deal of reflection. This is Grue's story, but it's also a tale of what it is to be human... A powerful and important book»

Romerikes Blad

«In this beautifully painted memoir of an ordinary life, a man of many parts emerges, flourishes, comes of age. A stunning autobiography of a man who refuses to see himself as others see him»

Professor Bill Hughes, Glasgow Caledonian University

«A restrained, dazzlingly intelligent and self-excavating examination of what it has meant to be disabled and visibly different, not "normal"... stunning»

Guardian

«I Live a Life Like Yours is quietly but insistently radical, a book which demands space and leaves change behind. As both an attempt to elucidate the specific details of a life seen from inside, and an examination of the limits of such an attempt, it is both beautiful and captivating»

Jessie Greengrass, author of 'Sight' and 'The High House'

«A witty account of surviving in a vulnerable body, and a powerful examination of the meaning of disability... a quietly wonderful memoir»

Independent

«A sensitive examination of the meaning of disability... Frank and often moving... Absorbing, insightful reflections on being human»

Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

«The book will, in all likelihood, linger as a milestone signifying that a new maturity is reaching autobiographically based literature in Norwegian non-fiction, too»

Morgenbladet