Islay

by Douglas Bullard

Deaf himself, Lyson C. Sulla had a Great American Dream -- to become Governor of the State of Islay and make it a state of, by, and for deaf people. Now, in a new paperback edition with a foreword by noted deaf-blind writer and editor, John Lee Clark, deaf author Douglas Bullard’s classic book follows Lyson as he undertakes an odyssey across America to convince more deaf people to join him. “This book is a trailblazer. Its point of view is completely oriented around its cast of Deaf characters - it is the hearing people who are the exceptions, the ‘other’. And, like any worthwhile Deaf story, there’s plenty of humor!” – Kimberly, Goodreads

336 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1985

Reviews

[Kimberley Shaw]

This book is a trailblazer. Its point of view is completely oriented around its cast of Deaf characters - it is the hearing people who are the exceptions, the "other". It predates ADA and Deaf President Now, and so has a point of view that now comes off as dated, but is still worth reading. And, like any worthwhile Deaf story, there's plenty of humor!

[Leigh Ann]

Deaf reader reviewing books with deaf characters. This book is listed on my ranked list of books with deaf characters.

Written by a deaf author, Islay is intentionally written as a burlesque, with characters derived from stereotypes, intended for comedy.

There's nothing horribly inaccurate, except when something like a stereotype is purposefully played up. For example, all the deaf characters are apparently adept lipreaders and speak clearly. It’s only when it’s convenient to the narrative that they don’t understand the bodyguard asking Lyson if he is a Fed (afeared?). It might be a conscious decision on the author's part to subvert or play up the stereotype, though.

Bullard uses a transliteration of ASL, rather than translations or glosses. I found it easy to read and understand, but it might be difficult for English users.

Repetition of comedy and miscommunications can get annoying at some points.

[David H.]

Why I didn't finish this: I wanted to read this because it's a deaf utopian novel, but I think I just wasn't really in the mood for it at the time I finally got hold of it from an interlibrary loan. Maybe I'll give it another go if I can ever find it again.

[Liz]

This book was charming, though the author had a strange agenda about gender roles that he kept trying to slip in. Overall it was a great read, one of those books that I really look forward to picking up at every opportunity.

As a hearing student of ASL, I appreciated the literal translation of Amslan in the book, which was helpful to me from a sentence structure perspective.