All of A Piece: Life with Multiple Sclerosis

describes the gradual and never-ending process of life with a chronic, potentially disabling disease. And it reveals why that acceptance is so hard to acheive in America, where public buildings now accomodate the disabled but public attitudes do not. The averted eyes on the commuter bus, the silence of a friend, the polite turning away of passers-by in the street—all serve to separate the disabled from the rest of society by a gap that can't be bridged by wheelchair ramps. "I can't categorize myself," Barbara Webster writes. "How much harder for those around me." is the story of a woman you may recognize. She happens to have multiple sclerosis. It is a story familiar to those suffering from chronic illness and to their families and friends. It is one the rest of us should know as well.