If I remember correctly, I first heard about Dwarf, A Memoir from a magazine review. I added it to my growing list at the library, and then a large share of the books I was wait listed for came in. All at the same time. I just finished this one last week, and I’m in a race against myself and library overdue fees to get the next couple read asap before they’re late.

Because I am determined to avoid late fees this year.

While cheaper than buying the books, late fees really defeat the whole purpose.

Tiffanie DiDonato was born a dwarf, and while she was never falling into the “woe is me” camp, she longed to be like everybody else. To be able to flick on a light switch, reach a kitchen cabinet, or even learn to drive. You know, normal things that we sometimes take for granted. After she was born, her parents divorced because her Dad just wasn’t able to handle the extra pressures of a child who would be so dependent on her family. Although he did come back, and support her in spades, her parents never remarried.

Tiffanie, through the support of her family, though particularly her mother, made the decision to undergo three limb lengthening surgeries, each one more torturous than its predecessor. During the recuperation periods, it meant that Tiffanie would have to turn screws into her limbs multiple times a day to lengthen her bones as they healed. Her Dad was supportive, but couldn’t bear to see her in so much pain. After the final surgery, Tiffanie ended up gaining a whopping fourteen inches, placing her final height at four feet, ten inches.

The book goes into exhaustive detail when it comes to Tiffanie’s surgeries, hospital stays, rehabilitation, and more, yet only one chapter is devoted to Tiffanie attending college (which was after her surgery), and one chapter devoted to her meeting and marrying her Marine husband. As it’s billed as a memoir, I just think it should have given a little more billing to the other areas of her life as well, like college, adjusting to the dating world and starting a family. Those chapter were almost afterthoughts.

That said, it was still worth a read for a no-holds-barred look as to what her life is really like.

*This is the 10th book I’ve read in my quest to read 52 books this year.
1. Believe It, Be It
2. Touch and Go
3. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
4. Here I Go Again
5. Most Talkative: Stories from the Front Lines of Pop Culture
6. Drinking & Tweeting and Other Brandi Blunders
7. Cleaving
8. 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess
9. What I Learned When I Almost Died

Psst … today was a double post day! You can catch a mini video and peek into our kitchen right here.