The Seeing Glass

This haunting book starts out as a report of 10 weeks in 1991 when the author, a niece of the late poet Ogden Nash, temporarily lost her eyesight from optic neuritis. It soon turns into seismically heartrending recollections of her family that begin, fittingly, with an earthquake. Gorman initially attributed her vision problems to witnessing the suffering of her young daughter, Kelsey, from chronic lung disease. During her blindness, Gorman, much to the dismay of her husband and two sisters, obsessed about a tragic event in her childhood: the committing of her gifted but autistic older brother, Robin, to a mental institution when he was 12. Despite the trauma of her blindness, there were compensations for Gorman: she enjoyed intense dreams in vibrant colors that stimulated warm memories of Robin and also reminded her of how the family avoided discussing his absence. Her sight restored, the author credits this period of darkness with illuminating her love for Robin and helping her come to terms with his tragic death at 31 when he was hit by a car. First serial to Good Housekeeping and Reader's Digest; BOMC selection. (June)