Dr. Kopits takes me into an examining room and leans against the stainless steel bench and asks me what I'm writing about this time. When I tell him what I saw in Australia, he immediately starts to nod. "This is a great subject," he says. Then he stops, as if caught by the subject himself. I wait. After a moment, he continues. "What you are looking into is the abyss. This takes you to the very heart of a human being, to the deepest aspect of the soul. He gives me one of his solemn looks. "Because the thing is, you have to confront yourself." (from In the Little World) In 1997, almost by accident, John H. Richardson found himself sharing a hotel with more than a thousand dwarfs. Over the course of a single week, he witnessed love and anger, fear and bravery, arrogance and humility, even a bizarre romantic deception -- the entire spectrum of human emotion in one concentrated dose. But at the end of the week, he discovered that leaving the "Little World" wasn't as simple as checking out of a hotel. In fact, his journey would last a full two years. At a time when bigger often seems synonymous with better, and physical beauty serves as currency, the world of dwarfs usually passes beneath our notice. Now, in this groundbreaking work, awardwinning author John H. Richardson brings the Little World into focus. He introduces us to characters like a saintly but obsessed doctor and a mother who sacrifices her family to save her dwarf daughter. He follows two dwarf lovers from first meeting through the struggle to overcome their fear and shame and find the confidence to love each other. He becomes personally involved in a tangled and often confrontational friendship with a female dwarf. Through these stories and musings ranging from classic theories of beauty to the history of the disability movement to postmodern theories of difference, Richardson presents a world that is a skewed reflection of our own -- and offers us a glimpse into the essential human condition. What began as a feature article for Esquire in February 1998, in which contributing editor Richardson introduces several people, tall and small, looking for love and miracles at the annual Little People of America convention, has culminated in this full-blown narrative. Here Richardson explores the intimate stories and relationships he cultivated with the individuals initially profiled. He deftly alternates between multiple characters and story lines the meeting and courtship of Michael and Meredith, the contentious Andrea, and the heartbreaking and truly remarkable odyssey of Jocelyn and her mother, Evelyn. Throughout, Richardson expounds upon the genetic, cultural, and literary facets of dwarfism and along the way introduces us to some fascinating people, like the brilliant surgeon Dr. Carson and the preeminent medical authority on dwarfism, the Mother Teresa-like Dr. Kopits. Richardson is both entertaining and brutally honest in these relationships, which become significant in his life an interesting twist on the detached journalistic approach. This is a work whose significance will increase. An important purchase for most libraries. Barry X. Miller, Austin P.L., TX Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. Richardson's introduction to the Little World begins at the Little People of America convention in Atlanta. On assignment to write a story of the convention for Esquire magazine, Richardson conducts interviews with several dwarfs. He meets Michael, looking for love and hoping to hit it off with Meredith. He also meets Jocelyn and her mother, Evelyn, who have come all the way from Australia to consult with Dr. Kopits, a doctor famous for his dedication to treating dwarfs. And then there is Andrea--defensive and easily enraged, she seems to be as fascinated with Richardson as he is with her. Even after the convention is long over, Richardson keeps in touch with the dwarfs he became closest to, following Michael and Meredith's romance, Jocelyn's multiple surgeries and their effect on her family, and Andrea's grappling with her father's illness. Richardson's writing has both immediacy and candor, but perhaps what is most special about the book is how closely he is involved in the lives of the people whose stories he is relating here. Richardson struggles with his own perceptions of beauty and physicality, challenged by Andrea's confrontational nature and Jocelyn's stoic bravery. Richardson's introspection might cause him to lose his impersonal distance, but it is only to his, and the book's, benefit. Because of its naked honesty, In the Little World is both phenomenal and unique. Kristine Huntley Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved “Captivating....Fascinating....A compulsively readable, raw yet scholarly take on a marginalized side of humanity.” -- Elle “A fascinating read for even the shortest of attention spans.” -- Maxim “Brave...bold...unexpected...completely original.” -- Baltimore Sun “Captivating...fascinati