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To Catch an Angel: Adventures in the World I Cannot See
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First published June 1, 1962
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About the author
Robert W. Russell
10 books2 followersRobert W. Russell (1924–2011) was an American author, wrestler and professor of literature. He is a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. His several books include the bestselling memoir To Catch an Angel: Adventures in a World I Cannot See (1962); he was blind for most of his life. After receiving his B.Lit. from Oxford University in 1951, Russell taught first at Shimer College (which had not yet instituted its Oxford program). He subsequently taught at Franklin & Marshall College until his retirement in 1990. At Franklin & Marshall, he chaired the English department for several years and served as Charles A. Dana Professor of English. (from Shimer College Wiki)
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 26, 2015
About this author edit data
Robert W. Russell (1924–2011) was an American author, wrestler and professor of literature. He is a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. His several books include the bestselling memoir To Catch an Angel: Adventures in a World I Cannot See (1962); he was blind for most of his life. After receiving his B.Lit. from Oxford University in 1951, Russell taught first at Shimer College (which had not yet instituted its Oxford program). He subsequently taught at Franklin & Marshall College until his retirement in 1990. At Franklin & Marshall, he chaired the English department for several years and served as Charles A. Dana Professor of English. (from Shimer College Wiki)
I like reading autobiographies. Although, Robert Russell wasn't famous he was determined and ambitious. His life story is interesting and a fast read. The benefit of reading books 40 years old is that one can use the internet to see where the author is today. Sadly, he died in 2011.
March 29, 2014
Very amazing story about a man blinded when he was a young child.He was able to function effectively as an adult and eventually became an accredited Professor of literature.
August 21, 2018
Stirring autobiography of a truly remarkable human being. Insightful, entertaining and a happy book about a wonderfully rare individual!
May 25, 2014
Another instance where I just don't trust the veracity of a memoir. An example: at one point, blind Robert Russell says he was in a train car in London. It stopped at a station and both side doors opened. Because he couldn't see, and no one was in the car to advise him, instead of stepping out the correct door onto the platform, he stepped out the wrong door and fell four feet onto the tracks, landing on his feet. I understand neither description there--- why would both doors open risking injury to the commuters, and how could he have stepped out into a four foot drop and land on his feet? I shouldn't be so picky, but did I misread this part of the story, or do the above details make sense and I'm just confused? It makes me doubt other parts of the story...
March 23, 2023
The Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Allhonse once wrote, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” That may not be the perfect translation, but it’s close enough. And it resonates with me where this book is concerned. I can’t be critical of some of the author’s decisions regarding orientation and mobility and his personal safety. I made many of the same ones he did in my childhood and teeenage years.
Russell went blind after an accident at age five. How much of an advantage did those five years give him I’ll never know. But my speculation is it allowed him to draw impressively accurate mental maps in his head of places he needed to visit. Those mental maps may have contributed to his apparent success in navigating urban areas without a cane. It all seems foolhardy from where I sit today. But I’m the last person who’s going to badmouth success, and this guy certainly was that.
He had negative perspectives of the residential school for blind kids he attended. I probably had a better outlook toward the school I attended, but I went home at night and could shrug off the more dilatory negative elements of a residential school. He found much success as a wrestler, and that would stand him in good stead throughout his college career.
His parents reminded me a bit of mine. Only a few times in my upbringing did they unnecessarily put on the breaks for projects I wanted to pump everything I had into. By and large, they stepped back and let me run with it. That’s the attitude Russell’s parents had.
What struck me hard were the sections in which he attempted to find work in his chosen field of endeavor only to have the gatekeepers kick him in the teeth again and again because of the overlay of false assumptions laid down by an ignorant society that thinks it’s doing us a favor by keeping us out of harm’s way. That book is more than 60 years old, and nearly every blind person I know could tell stories like Russell’s where the job search is concerned. Those sections tied my guts in knots and left me saddened and aghast at how little has changed in so many ways. Oh, we all have flashier technology than Russell ever had. But that breathtakingly capable iPhone that told you where the door handle is so you can open it and do that job interview isn’t any more useful than whatever Russell had once you’re inside that door. You can’t legislate those assumptions away, but you can overcome them under the right circumstances. He demonstrates that in this book.
Look up chutzpah, and you’ll find Russell’s picture there next to the definition. When the Rotarians offered him a scholarship to study abroad, Oxford turned him down repeatedly in writing. A Swiss university would take him, but his German was essentially nonexistent. He determined to simply go to Oxford and knock doors until someone somewhere heard his story and gave him a shot. He had nothing to lose. His parents were dead, the house was on the market, his unmarried sister was about to change her marital status, and nothing held him to the United States at that point. I admired Russell’s guts and tenacity. He had a zero chance of getting into that university, and he knocked on doors and talked until he got in. He reminded me a bit of my 30s. I had committed to a job at the American Council of the Blind, and we drove into the nation’s capital with no house to live in and no furniture. My wife was in her final two weeks of a pregnancy. The Caesarean Section would happen weeks after we got there, performed by a doctor she barely knew and had no idea how trustworthy he was. The child came on the same day as did the furniture. Russell and his British wife seem to have operated like that. They simply synched up the straps and went wherever the jobs were. As I look back on those years, I can see pitfalls and foibles that should have kept me safely ensconced in northern Utah surrounded by family and friends. We didn’t do that, and my life is better for that reason. Today, we joke about the month of sleeping on the floor in a crummy duplex. There are legendary stories of helping my wife stand up after a night on the floor. Russell seems to opt for the hard road in this book whenever he gets a choice.
I joined with him in his bitterness when, after he had a full degree from a prestigious university, he can only find work in a sheltered workshop. Fortunately, he never saw that experience as more than a stopgap measure designed to keep body and soul economically together until the next better thing came along. It eventually did. But I can relate to his terror at being underemployed and realizing you’re responsible for more than yourself.
I went into this with low expectations. I figured it would be an old-fashioned book that would give me a quaint snapshot of growing up blind in the ‘50s and ‘60s. It turned out to be a book that was both sad and celebratory. It was a book in which I mostly saw an unusual portrait of the author and caught tiny shadowy glimpses of me in the seemingly mirrored labyrinth that was his life.
Russell went blind after an accident at age five. How much of an advantage did those five years give him I’ll never know. But my speculation is it allowed him to draw impressively accurate mental maps in his head of places he needed to visit. Those mental maps may have contributed to his apparent success in navigating urban areas without a cane. It all seems foolhardy from where I sit today. But I’m the last person who’s going to badmouth success, and this guy certainly was that.
He had negative perspectives of the residential school for blind kids he attended. I probably had a better outlook toward the school I attended, but I went home at night and could shrug off the more dilatory negative elements of a residential school. He found much success as a wrestler, and that would stand him in good stead throughout his college career.
His parents reminded me a bit of mine. Only a few times in my upbringing did they unnecessarily put on the breaks for projects I wanted to pump everything I had into. By and large, they stepped back and let me run with it. That’s the attitude Russell’s parents had.
What struck me hard were the sections in which he attempted to find work in his chosen field of endeavor only to have the gatekeepers kick him in the teeth again and again because of the overlay of false assumptions laid down by an ignorant society that thinks it’s doing us a favor by keeping us out of harm’s way. That book is more than 60 years old, and nearly every blind person I know could tell stories like Russell’s where the job search is concerned. Those sections tied my guts in knots and left me saddened and aghast at how little has changed in so many ways. Oh, we all have flashier technology than Russell ever had. But that breathtakingly capable iPhone that told you where the door handle is so you can open it and do that job interview isn’t any more useful than whatever Russell had once you’re inside that door. You can’t legislate those assumptions away, but you can overcome them under the right circumstances. He demonstrates that in this book.
Look up chutzpah, and you’ll find Russell’s picture there next to the definition. When the Rotarians offered him a scholarship to study abroad, Oxford turned him down repeatedly in writing. A Swiss university would take him, but his German was essentially nonexistent. He determined to simply go to Oxford and knock doors until someone somewhere heard his story and gave him a shot. He had nothing to lose. His parents were dead, the house was on the market, his unmarried sister was about to change her marital status, and nothing held him to the United States at that point. I admired Russell’s guts and tenacity. He had a zero chance of getting into that university, and he knocked on doors and talked until he got in. He reminded me a bit of my 30s. I had committed to a job at the American Council of the Blind, and we drove into the nation’s capital with no house to live in and no furniture. My wife was in her final two weeks of a pregnancy. The Caesarean Section would happen weeks after we got there, performed by a doctor she barely knew and had no idea how trustworthy he was. The child came on the same day as did the furniture. Russell and his British wife seem to have operated like that. They simply synched up the straps and went wherever the jobs were. As I look back on those years, I can see pitfalls and foibles that should have kept me safely ensconced in northern Utah surrounded by family and friends. We didn’t do that, and my life is better for that reason. Today, we joke about the month of sleeping on the floor in a crummy duplex. There are legendary stories of helping my wife stand up after a night on the floor. Russell seems to opt for the hard road in this book whenever he gets a choice.
I joined with him in his bitterness when, after he had a full degree from a prestigious university, he can only find work in a sheltered workshop. Fortunately, he never saw that experience as more than a stopgap measure designed to keep body and soul economically together until the next better thing came along. It eventually did. But I can relate to his terror at being underemployed and realizing you’re responsible for more than yourself.
I went into this with low expectations. I figured it would be an old-fashioned book that would give me a quaint snapshot of growing up blind in the ‘50s and ‘60s. It turned out to be a book that was both sad and celebratory. It was a book in which I mostly saw an unusual portrait of the author and caught tiny shadowy glimpses of me in the seemingly mirrored labyrinth that was his life.
January 9, 2024
Great true story about the power of the human spirit to overcome anything by never giving up.
June 22, 2025
Quite an inspirational autobiography by Robert Russell in “To Catch an Angel”.
More at
https://vramonline.wordpress.com/2025...
More at
https://vramonline.wordpress.com/2025...
March 19, 2014
Amazing account of a blind man growing up in Brooklyn, achieving a PhD. Hadn't thought about how hard it would be to do the last bit as I would have thought educated folk to be less nasty to folks with a disability. But I suppose it makes sense. Great personal account. Very easy to read. Wouldn't mind meeting the guy.
September 3, 2016
Inspiring book about the triumphant human spirit that overcomes the difficulties of suddenly becoming physically blind. Many poetic descriptive word choices describe relatable experiences that the author lived through when thrust into a world where he had no sight.
March 6, 2009
Very inspiring. If your or a friend/family member's diability has you down, this is the book to read.
August 26, 2009
A sweet little memoir. It's heartwarming and interesting.
February 11, 2012
I knew Bob and considered him a friend. He was a brilliant
and inspiring man, which, in my opinion, is proved when one reads his book.
and inspiring man, which, in my opinion, is proved when one reads his book.
April 13, 2015
nice <3
July 3, 2022
Seeing the world and its surroundings from the dark side of the moon.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews