Inspiration Porn: Essays

Actor and novelist O’Connell (Just by Looking at Him) reflects in this smart and funny collection on navigating relationships, addiction, and Hollywood as a gay man with disabilities. Born with cerebral palsy in 1986, O’Connell was hit by a car at age 20, which caused him to develop a muscle condition called compartment syndrome. (“I am apparently the Pokémon of disability,” he jokes. “I gotta catch ’em all!”) He describes how his disability shaped his sexuality, writing of one partner, “I’m in a war for you to see me as a person rather than a challenge.” Throughout most of his 20s, he was celibate and grappled with addiction to alcohol and pain killers. After finding professional success—first as a blogger in the 2010s for the site Thought Catalog and then writing and starring in the Netflix adaptation of his memoir, I’m Special—he got sober. “The Slut Diaries” recounts his sexual escapades after opening up his relationship with his long-term boyfriend, a choice that helped him strengthen his confidence and embrace his sexuality. The subsequent piece, “6,875 Words About Love,” gives an honest account of the complexity that freedom brought to his relationship. O’Connell writes with a breezy style that feels like gossiping with a friend. The result is a laugh-out-loud page-turner. (May)