A magical book, the kind that becomes a classic.”
— Baltimore Sun
One of the most powerful memoirs I’ve ever encountered...[Lusseyran’s] experience is thrilling, horrible, honest, spiritually profound, and utterly full of joy.”
— Ethan Hawke, in the Village Voice
One of the most extraordinary books I have ever read. It is why books are published at all.”
— Mark Nepo, author of Seven Thousand Ways to Listen
Lusseyran allows us to glimpse both heaven and hell on Earth through the eyes of a man who has lived through both. His description of what it is like to see’ as a blind man is fascinating and inspiring; his account of Buchenwald, where he was condemned to the living hell of the Invalids’ Barracks,’ is one of the most anguishing fragments of Holocaust testimony that I have ever encountered.”
— Jonathan Kirsch, Los Angeles Times
A stunning revelation of human courage and love arising in the midst of implacable human evil. Under it all runs a deep current of mystical truth and hope.”
— Jacob Needleman, author of An Unknown World
An exciting, inspirational account of a life without sight.”
— Library Journal
What normally would seem a tragic plunge into darkness becomes a thrilling journey into light.”
— Peter Brook, director of the International Centre for Theatre Research, Paris
This book is his testament to the joy which exists in all of us, a joy which no conditions — not even the worst — can kill.”
— Roshi Philip Kapleau, author of The Three Pillars of Zen