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(★)(乙武洋匡, Translated by Gerry Harcourt)(Titulo original : Gotai Fumanzoku [五体不満足,1998]／ Oto came home from school one day and told his parents he had signed up to play basketball. Most parents would be delighted ; his were shocked. After all, Oto was born with no arms and no legs. But as this extraordinary young man has proven again and again, hard work, humor, versality, and an upbeat approach to life are as valuable as limbs.／ ´No One´s Perfect´ is his true account of how he slam-dunked one challenge after another, including basketball.／ In a style purposefully meant to reach all ages, Oto writes about his unique childhood in Japan, a country that traditionally has shielded the disabled from the public eye. But hide Oto? Try hiding the sun! From his earliest days, he brought such a winning optimism into the crowds around him -curious kindergartners, skeptical members of the public school board, gaping passersby- that it was hard to resist him.／ Now, as a young adult, Oto has taken on the work of establishing a ´barrier-free´ environment for others, in the government, in the media, in the eyes of all he meets.／ His book has sold over four million copies in Japan, where he utterly changed the way people view the disabled. Unsentimental and understated [you know the day-to-day routine can´t have been as easy as he makes it sound], Oto´s message nonetheless hits the heart. And though you need bravery and constant energy to overcome disabilities, you also need the understanding of those around you. Strong parents and unconventional teachers bucked the rigid status quo to give Oto a chance at a normal life, and he took it from there.／ Running races, learning to swim, even getting into fights, he made his classmates feel ´He´s one of us,´ so they were willing to join forces with him to help break down the barriers he faced. ´No One´s Perfect´ is the story of one guy´s incredible courage and delight in what life can offer. It´s also a campaign to illustrate how acceptance of other people´s imperfections can make our own lives less imperfect.／ ◆The Author : In 1976 in Tokyo, Hirotada ´Oto´ Ototake was born with tetra-amelia, a congenital condition leaving him with almost no arms and legs. Motivated by the idea that there are some things that ´only´ a disabled person can do, he became actively involved in a campaign for a ´barrier-free´ society while he was majoring in politics and economics at Japan´s prestigious Waseda University. From April 1999 he worked as a co-presenter of a prime-time TV news program.) |
BASE de DATOS, Biblioteca del Centro Cultural de la Embajada de Japon
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