How I Became a Human Being: A Disabled Man's Quest for Independence

Wisconsin Studies in Autobiography

by Mark O'Brien, Gillian Kendall (Contributor)

September 1955. Six-year-old Mark O’Brien moved his arms and legs for the last time. He came out of a thirty-day coma to find himself enclosed from the neck down in an iron lung, the machine in which he would live for much of the rest of his life.

How I Became a Human Being is Mark O’Brien’s account of his struggles to lead an independent life despite a lifelong disability. In 1955, he contracted polio and became permanently paralyzed from the neck down. O’Brien describes growing up without the use of his limbs, his adolescence struggling with physical rehabilitation and suffering the bureaucracy of hospitals and institutions, and his adult life as an independent student and writer. Despite his weak physical state, O’Brien attended graduate school, explored his sexuality, fell in love, published poetry, and worked as a journalist. A determined writer, O’Brien used a mouthstick to type each word.

O’Brien’s story does not beg for sympathy. It is rather a day-to-day account of his reality—the life he crafted and maintained with a good mind, hired attendants, decent legislation for disabled people in California, and support from the University of California at Berkeley. He describes the ways in which a paralyzed person takes care of the body, mind, and heart. What mattered most was his writing, the people he loved, his belief in God, and his belief in himself.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Disability, Biography

280 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Mark Schlatter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the autobiography of Mark O'Brien, the disabled man who is one of the protagonists in the movie The Sessions as well as the subject of the Oscar winning documentary Breathing Lessons. It's extremely readable and covers Mark's troubles and triumphs fairly well (although I would have liked to read more about his journalism). A strong, strong point is that Mark succeeds not because of his bravery or determination (he often documents his tentative and passive nature), but because of the system of support that surrounded him at Berkeley. It's hard to see how a story like this could happen absent an active and aggressive disabled rights program.

[Hind · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very conflicted as to how to rate this book. While I feel the life of Mark O’Brien deserves 5 stars, I felt the book was such a drag.
Very factual, lacking much needed sentiment and emotion. Was that intentional ? Given that he’s a journalist and an English major, I thought there should be more to his writing ?
I would have loved a forward and and afterward by a family member or any of the people close to him.
I was left knowing how Mark O’Brien’s life unfolded, yet never how it was being Mark O’Brien.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to read this book after seeing the excellent movie The Sessions. I wasn't disappointed. Mark O'Brien was a wonderful writer - able to convey the limits of his life spent mostly in an iron lung while showing us his amazing talent and inner life.

[Richard Curry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading a book:
HOW I BECAME A HUMAN BEING by Mark O'Brien with Gillian Kendall. Mark was the subject of an Oscar winning documentary by Jessica Yu entitled BREATHING LESSONS.
I doubt i ever met him but he knew people i knew through Lydia RadicGutierrez*, and it seems certain we passed by his apartment in Berkeley many times on the way to her law school studies (J.D. 1993, Berkeley) while he lay within breathing via an iron lung after being stricken with polio as a child. It is ultimately an inspiring and triumphal story. I recommend it highly.
*Lydia RadicGutierrez, Esq. was one of the pioneering disability rights activists in the USA and San Francisco, and Berkeley. She introduced me to people the author mentions in his Prologue: Ed Roberts, Judy Heumann, Hale Zukas, and many others in Berkeley in the 1990s, Lydia had also been known as Lydia Radich, Lydia Robertson, Commissioner Lydia Larsen (SFPUC, appointed by Mayor Moscone), Lydia Porshnikov (sp?) And ultimately Lydia RadicGutierrez, Esq.
With my previous acquaintances with the scene in the 1990s this was a very special book for me.

[Superstine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plukket opp den fordi den ble nevnt flere ganger i Jeg lever et liv som ligner deres og fordi jeg er nysgjerrig på jernlunger vs moderne respiratorer (usikker på hvorfor jeg trodde jeg skulle få teknisk informasjon om dem her). Uansett, velskrevne memoarer, skrevet med akkurat passe distanse og humor. Ser noen sier den er for kald og faktabasert, jeg vil heller si velsignet fritatt fra klisjer og woe-is-me. Plenty av rørende øyeblikk, like fult - men jeg liker best hverdagsfokuset. Synes det er mest spennende å lese om sykehusopphold og minst spennende å lese om studietiden, men tror det primært skyldes at jeg er yrkesskadet.

ETA: Denne ble gitt ut posthumt, og det er et forord som levner tvil om hvor mye som har blitt endret på. Noe med at O'Briens stil var for knapp og at redaktøren (?) har "fylt inn tomrommene". Håper ikke så mye er lagt til, men blir litt usikker. For min del kunne boka gjerne vært enda skarpere og knapper i stilen.

[Jenifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the very readable and interesting story of a life that very few of us can even imagine. The author, Mark O'Brien, confined to an iron lung for life, he manages to - as the title suggests, live a life. He talks about his insecurities, his health issues, his desires and his accomplishments. He navigates relationships, independent living and institutional bureaucracy.

I came to this book like so many others, after watching "The Sessions" which portrays a short segment of the book as he explores his sexuality. Both the book and the movie were very good. There's also a documentary called "Breathing Lessons" which I haven't seen.

[Alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing autobiographical account of a writer that contracted polio at a young age and was confined to an iron lung for all but a few hours a day. Part of his story was turned into the movie The Sessions.

[Marybeth]

I loved this book. What an incredible life this man led.

[Jim Townsend · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very inspiring though at times very sad and brought tears to my eyes.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very powerful. Well worth a read.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a thoughtful, intelligent writer. I was moved by his candor, and will try to find and read everything he has written.