As William Roth was taking his first steps, members of his family were caught up in the Nazi Holocaust. At age eight, he began to manifest the symptoms of dystonia, a neurological disease characterized by severe movement disorders. And at age forty-seven, he was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsil, a cancer that would prove as invasive as his genetic disease and as dreadful as his social persecution. This, his memoir, relates the three intertwined narratives and the miraculous success that one man carved from them.

Today, at age 65, Roth is more than a survivor. Mobilizing his courage to spearhead the discipline of disability studies, be active in the Disability Rights Movement, influence government policy toward disability, and found the non-profit Center for Computing and Disability, Roth has used his own disability to change the life of disabled people in America.