"The Two in One offers a fresh look at disability in western culture by reconsidering our traditional views about the human-animal bond. Along the way, Rod Michalko shows us how both he and guide dog Smokie learn to scan the far horizon." -Stephen Kuusisto, author of Planet of the Blind "This is a moving phenomenology of blindness, a provocative deconstruction ... Read moreof the culture/nature dichotomy, a telling analysis of the everyday construction of identity, and a compelling argument for the special 'insight' of marginality of various kinds." -Spencer E. Cahill, University of South Florida "Michalko, a sociologist, has written an insightful memoir of how, with the aid of his guide dog, Smokie, he came to fully inhabit his blindness. ...Michalko presents himself on many levels: the scientist considering the meanings of social behavior toward disability; the attentive pet-caretaker describing guide dog training and funny incidents that occur during his walks with Smokie; and finally, a down-to-earth intellectual who begins to forget-after decades of near-sightlessness-that he has a disability. He writes movingly about how, through his relationship with Smokie, he came to view blindness not just as a lack of sight but as something in itself, a condition with its own properties. In so doing, he invites us to rethink the very nature of disability." -Publishers Weekly "I would highly recommend this book, together with it's predecessor The Mystery of the Eye and the Shadow of Blindness (1998, University of Toronto Press), as exemplars of both politically engaged narrative writing and phenomenological accounts of disability." -Canadian Journal of Sociology Online Show Less