Disabilities in Adult Fiction

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn

• The novel in disability studies about a sideshow family.

The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon

• Should autism be cured?  Set in a not-too-distant future where autists are given special treatment for their abilities.

The Dive From Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer

• Carrie's fiance is paralyzed in an accident and she re-evaluates the relationship and her life.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

• A first person  look at autism, specifically Asperger's.

Blindness by Jose Saramago

• An entire city is slowly stricken with blindness except one woman.

Beauty by Susan Wilson

• A love story about a man who is severly disfigured.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

• Not so much about "disability" as about being different in a way that other people perceive as needing to be fixed/cured.

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

• A developmentally disabled man takes part in an experiment to "make him smart."

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins

• Not so much about "disability" as about taking something physically abnormal about one's self and creating an identity from it.

Crazy by Benjamin Lebert

• A partially paralyzed teen fictionalizes his life in this Catcher in  the Rye rip-off.