“Kevin Connolly has used an unusual physical circumstance to create a gripping work of art. This deeply affecting memoir will place him in the company of Jeanette Walls and Augusten Burroughs.” — Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants
“Charming … Connolly recounts growing up a scrappy Montana kid—one who happened to be born without legs... [Double Take] makes for an empowering read.” — People
As featured on 20/20, NPR, and in the Washington Post: Kevin Connolly is a young man born without legs who travels the world—by skateboard, with his camera—on his “Rolling Exhibition,” snapping pictures of peoples’ reactions to him… and finds out along the way what it truly means to be human.
From Kevin Connolly:
"I was bitten nearly in half by a shark while swimming in New Zealand. I was a victim of a Serbian mortar round in Sarajevo during the Balkan wars. I have been the victim of a dozen car accidents - head on collisions, vehicle rolls, and pedestrian injuries. I have been the purveyor of magic tricks for children - a routine often involving mirrors and a trapdoor. I have been a beggar and vagabond - panhandling across countries with varying degrees of success. I have also been a holy man - bringing moments of inspiration and light to those who chose to look for it.
I am none these things - and I am all of them. My name is Kevin Michael Connolly and I was born in Helena, Montana on August 18th, 1985. I was also born without legs.
All my life I′ve been an object of curiosity, the subject of a stare. But, while I have shouldered the stares and stories of others, the story of how I′ve managed to travel the world is uniquely my own. DOUBLE TAKE is my story, and it begins in many ways the day I was placed on prosthetic stilts at the age of eight.
In an attempt to capture the moments of intense curiosity I experience on a daily basis, I traveled to 17 countries and took over 32,728 photographs of people staring at me. In Zurich, I raced down the Limmat River against a group of twenty Vikings. In Bosnia, I scrambled to collect my groceries after being side swiped by a car. In Malaysia, I got caught in torrential rainstorms and had to skate and paddle with one hand, while keeping my camera above the rising tide with the other."
