
The Pretty One
On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love with Me
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $19.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Keah Brown
-
By:
-
Keah Brown
About this listen
From the disability rights advocate and creator of the #DisabledAndCute viral campaign, a thoughtful, inspiring, and charming collection of essays exploring what it means to be black and disabled in a mostly able-bodied white America.
Keah Brown loves herself, but that hadn’t always been the case. Born with cerebral palsy, her greatest desire used to be normalcy and refuge from the steady stream of self-hate society strengthened inside her. But after years of introspection and reaching out to others in her community, she has reclaimed herself and changed her perspective.
In The Pretty One, Brown gives a contemporary and relatable voice to the disabled - so often portrayed as mute, weak, or isolated. With clear, fresh, and lighthearted prose, these essays explore everything from her relationship with her able-bodied identical twin (called “the pretty one” by friends) to navigating romance; her deep affinity for all things pop culture - and her disappointment with the media’s distorted view of disability; and her declaration of self-love with the viral hashtag #DisabledAndCute.
By “smashing stigmas, empowering her community, and celebrating herself” (Teen Vogue), Brown and The Pretty One aim to expand the conversation about disability and inspire self-love for people of all backgrounds.
©2019 Keah Brown (P)2019 Simon & Schuster AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century
- Unabridged Selections
- By: Alice Wong
- Narrated by: Alejandra Ospina, Alice Wong
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One in five people in the United States lives with a disability. Some disabilities are visible, others less apparent - but all are underrepresented in media and popular culture. Now, just in time for the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, activist Alice Wong brings together this urgent, galvanizing collection of contemporary essays by disabled people.
-
-
Missing stories
- By Adrianna A. on 11-19-20
By: Alice Wong
-
Being Heumann
- An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist
- By: Judith Heumann, Kristen Joiner
- Narrated by: Ali Stroker
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A story of fighting to belong in a world that wasn't built for all of us and of one woman's activism - from the streets of Brooklyn and San Francisco to inside the halls of Washington - Being Heumann recounts Judy Heumann's lifelong battle to achieve respect, acceptance, and inclusion in society. From fighting to attend grade school after being described as a "fire hazard" to later winning a lawsuit against the New York City school system for denying her a teacher's license because of her paralysis, Judy's actions set a precedent that improved rights for disabled people.
-
-
A must read for everyone
- By Christopher A Cawthon on 09-28-20
By: Judith Heumann, and others
-
Demystifying Disability
- What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally
- By: Emily Ladau
- Narrated by: Emily Ladau
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An approachable guide to being a thoughtful, informed ally to disabled people, with actionable steps for what to say and do (and what not to do) and how you can help make the world a more accessible, inclusive place.
-
-
Mildly useful
- By Dvdmon on 10-23-22
By: Emily Ladau
-
Haben
- The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law
- By: Haben Girma
- Narrated by: Haben Girma
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The incredible life story of Haben Girma, the first Deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, and her amazing journey from isolation to the world stage. Haben defines disability as an opportunity for innovation. She learned non-visual techniques for everything from dancing salsa to handling an electric saw. She developed a text-to-braille communication system that created an exciting new way to connect with people.
-
-
Wonderful story, told in her own voice.
- By Calucin on 08-10-19
By: Haben Girma
-
The Light We Carry
- Overcoming in Uncertain Times
- By: Michelle Obama
- Narrated by: Michelle Obama
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There may be no tidy solutions or pithy answers to life’s big challenges, but Michelle Obama believes that we can all locate and lean on a set of tools to help us better navigate change and remain steady within flux. In The Light We Carry, she opens a frank and honest dialogue with listeners, considering the questions many of us wrestle with: How do we build enduring and honest relationships? How can we discover strength and community inside our differences? What tools do we use to address feelings of self-doubt or helplessness? What do we do when it all starts to feel like too much?
-
-
Very Disappointing—Too Ego-filled
- By Patricia Webb on 11-29-22
By: Michelle Obama
-
Sitting Pretty
- The View from My Ordinary, Resilient, Disabled Body
- By: Rebekah Taussig
- Narrated by: Rebekah Taussig
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Writing about the rhythms and textures of what it means to live in a body that doesn’t fit, Rebekah reflects on everything from the complications of kindness and charity, living both independently and dependently, experiencing intimacy, and how the pervasiveness of ableism in our everyday media directly translates to everyday life. Disability affects all of us, directly or indirectly, at one point or another. Sitting Pretty challenges us as a society to be patient and vigilant, practical and imaginative, kind and relentless, as we set to work to write a different story.
-
-
AMPLIFY this type of constructive, imaginative, and uplifting voice!!
- By Nish on 09-01-20
By: Rebekah Taussig
-
Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century
- Unabridged Selections
- By: Alice Wong
- Narrated by: Alejandra Ospina, Alice Wong
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One in five people in the United States lives with a disability. Some disabilities are visible, others less apparent - but all are underrepresented in media and popular culture. Now, just in time for the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, activist Alice Wong brings together this urgent, galvanizing collection of contemporary essays by disabled people.
-
-
Missing stories
- By Adrianna A. on 11-19-20
By: Alice Wong
-
Being Heumann
- An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist
- By: Judith Heumann, Kristen Joiner
- Narrated by: Ali Stroker
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A story of fighting to belong in a world that wasn't built for all of us and of one woman's activism - from the streets of Brooklyn and San Francisco to inside the halls of Washington - Being Heumann recounts Judy Heumann's lifelong battle to achieve respect, acceptance, and inclusion in society. From fighting to attend grade school after being described as a "fire hazard" to later winning a lawsuit against the New York City school system for denying her a teacher's license because of her paralysis, Judy's actions set a precedent that improved rights for disabled people.
-
-
A must read for everyone
- By Christopher A Cawthon on 09-28-20
By: Judith Heumann, and others
-
Demystifying Disability
- What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally
- By: Emily Ladau
- Narrated by: Emily Ladau
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An approachable guide to being a thoughtful, informed ally to disabled people, with actionable steps for what to say and do (and what not to do) and how you can help make the world a more accessible, inclusive place.
-
-
Mildly useful
- By Dvdmon on 10-23-22
By: Emily Ladau
-
Haben
- The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law
- By: Haben Girma
- Narrated by: Haben Girma
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The incredible life story of Haben Girma, the first Deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, and her amazing journey from isolation to the world stage. Haben defines disability as an opportunity for innovation. She learned non-visual techniques for everything from dancing salsa to handling an electric saw. She developed a text-to-braille communication system that created an exciting new way to connect with people.
-
-
Wonderful story, told in her own voice.
- By Calucin on 08-10-19
By: Haben Girma
-
The Light We Carry
- Overcoming in Uncertain Times
- By: Michelle Obama
- Narrated by: Michelle Obama
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There may be no tidy solutions or pithy answers to life’s big challenges, but Michelle Obama believes that we can all locate and lean on a set of tools to help us better navigate change and remain steady within flux. In The Light We Carry, she opens a frank and honest dialogue with listeners, considering the questions many of us wrestle with: How do we build enduring and honest relationships? How can we discover strength and community inside our differences? What tools do we use to address feelings of self-doubt or helplessness? What do we do when it all starts to feel like too much?
-
-
Very Disappointing—Too Ego-filled
- By Patricia Webb on 11-29-22
By: Michelle Obama
-
Sitting Pretty
- The View from My Ordinary, Resilient, Disabled Body
- By: Rebekah Taussig
- Narrated by: Rebekah Taussig
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Writing about the rhythms and textures of what it means to live in a body that doesn’t fit, Rebekah reflects on everything from the complications of kindness and charity, living both independently and dependently, experiencing intimacy, and how the pervasiveness of ableism in our everyday media directly translates to everyday life. Disability affects all of us, directly or indirectly, at one point or another. Sitting Pretty challenges us as a society to be patient and vigilant, practical and imaginative, kind and relentless, as we set to work to write a different story.
-
-
AMPLIFY this type of constructive, imaginative, and uplifting voice!!
- By Nish on 09-01-20
By: Rebekah Taussig
-
Year of the Tiger
- An Activist's Life
- By: Alice Wong
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This groundbreaking memoir offers a glimpse into an activist's journey to finding and cultivating community and the continued fight for disability justice, from the founder and director of the Disability Visibility Project.
-
-
Alice Wong is rad
- By H on 09-16-22
By: Alice Wong
-
Gathering Moss
- A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses
- By: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Narrated by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Living at the limits of our ordinary perception, mosses are a common but largely unnoticed element of the natural world. Gathering Moss is a beautifully written mix of science and personal reflection that invites listeners to explore and learn from the elegantly simple lives of mosses.
-
-
Soul Stirring
- By KatieBourgeois on 02-23-19
-
The Body Is Not an Apology, Second Edition
- The Power of Radical Self-Love
- By: Sonya Renee Taylor
- Narrated by: Sonya Renee Taylor
- Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Humans are a varied and divergent bunch with all manner of beliefs, morals, and bodies. Systems of oppression thrive off our inability to make peace with difference and injure the relationship we have with our own bodies. The Body Is Not an Apology offers radical self-love as the balm to heal the wounds inflicted by these violent systems. World-renowned activist and poet Sonya Renee Taylor invites us to reconnect with the radical origins of our minds and bodies and celebrate our collective, enduring strength.
-
-
YES YES YES
- By Sarah vdw on 02-16-21
-
The Future Is Disabled
- Prophecies, Love Notes and Mourning Songs
- By: Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
- Narrated by: Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Future Is Disabled, Leah Laksmi Piepzna-Samarasinha asks some provocative questions: What if, in the near future, the majority of people will be disabled—and what if that's not a bad thing? And what if disability justice and disabled wisdom are crucial to creating a future in which it's possible to survive fascism, climate change, and pandemics and to bring about liberation?
-
-
Amazing!!!
- By Anonymous User on 01-10-25
-
Being Seen
- One Deafblind Woman's Fight to End Ableism
- By: Elsa Sjunneson
- Narrated by: Elsa Sjunneson
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a deafblind woman with partial vision in one eye and bilateral hearing aids, Elsa Sjunneson lives at the crossroads of blindness and sight, hearing and deafness—much to the confusion of the world around her. And she knows how wrong our one-size-fits-all definitions of disability can be. Part memoir, part cultural criticism, part history of the deafblind experience, Being Seen explores how our cultural concept of disability is more myth than fact, and the damage it does to us all.
-
-
Did not resonate with me
- By Amazon Customer on 01-05-23
By: Elsa Sjunneson
-
Rest Is Resistance
- A Manifesto
- By: Tricia Hersey
- Narrated by: Tricia Hersey
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What would it be like to live in a well-rested world? Far too many of us have claimed productivity as the cornerstone of success. Brainwashed by capitalism, we subject our bodies and minds to work at an unrealistic, damaging, and machine‑level pace—feeding into the same engine that enslaved millions into brutal labor for its own relentless benefit. In Rest Is Resistance, Tricia Hersey, aka the Nap Bishop, casts an illuminating light on our troubled relationship with rest and how to imagine and dream our way to a future where rest is exalted.
-
-
What an experience
- By makeba jones on 10-26-22
By: Tricia Hersey
-
An African American and Latinx History of the United States
- By: Paul Ortiz
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spanning more than 200 years, An African American and Latinx History of the United States is a revolutionary, politically charged narrative history arguing that the "Global South" was crucial to the development of America as we know it. Ortiz challenges the notion of westward progress, and shows how placing African American, Latinx, and Indigenous voices unapologetically front and center transforms American history into the story of the working class organizing against imperialism.
-
-
I had to return
- By Andrew Alvarez on 05-19-20
By: Paul Ortiz
-
You Are Your Best Thing
- Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience
- By: Tarana Burke, Brené Brown
- Narrated by: Tarana Burke, Brené Brown, the Contributors, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tarana Burke and Dr. Brené Brown bring together a dynamic group of Black writers, organizers, artists, academics, and cultural figures to discuss the topics the two have dedicated their lives to understanding and teaching: vulnerability and shame resilience.
-
-
Listen up...
- By HeyJude on 04-29-21
By: Tarana Burke, and others
-
Deaf Utopia
- A Memoir—And a Love Letter to a Way of Life
- By: Nyle DiMarco, Robert Siebert
- Narrated by: Dan Bittner
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Before becoming the actor, producer, advocate, and model that people know today, Nyle DiMarco was half of a pair of Deaf twins born to a multi-generational Deaf family in Queens, New York. At the hospital one day after he was born, Nyle “failed” his first test—a hearing test—to the joy and excitement of his parents.
-
-
ASL is more important as a curriculum than foreign languages in American schools
- By mama bird on 02-03-23
By: Nyle DiMarco, and others
-
The Invisible Kingdom
- Reimagining Chronic Illness
- By: Meghan O'Rourke
- Narrated by: Meghan O'Rourke
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A silent epidemic of chronic illnesses afflicts tens of millions of Americans: These are diseases that are poorly understood, frequently marginalized, and can go undiagnosed and unrecognized altogether. Renowned writer Meghan O’Rourke delivers a revelatory investigation into this elusive category of “invisible” illness that encompasses autoimmune diseases, post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, and now long COVID, synthesizing the personal and the universal to help all of us through this new frontier.
-
-
Humbling. Heart-Opening. Disturbing.
- By Melissa E. Penn on 03-02-22
By: Meghan O'Rourke
-
Care Work
- Dreaming Disability Justice
- By: Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
- Narrated by: Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this collection of essays, Lambda Literary Award-winning writer and longtime activist and performance artist Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha explores the politics and realities of disability justice, a movement that centers the lives and leadership of sick and disabled queer, trans, Black, and brown people, with knowledge and gifts for all. Care Work is a mapping of access as radical love, a celebration of the work that sick and disabled queer/people of color are doing to find each other and to build power and community.
-
-
As Good as It Gets
- By Nico on 09-14-21
-
Light from Uncommon Stars
- By: Ryka Aoki
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: To escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six. When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka's ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She's found her final candidate. But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four.
-
-
Awesome with a few hitches.
- By Levi Fay on 10-01-21
By: Ryka Aoki
What listeners say about The Pretty One
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- Spy
- 08-10-22
inspirational
I learned so much about how we fall short of representing other people in the media. showing black people on sitcoms really is not enough.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ivy
- 09-27-19
She isn't pretty, she's BEAUTIFUL!
I heard an interview that Keah recently did on the Tom Joyner Morning Show and HAD to but her book. I have a 34 y/o Male cousin with Cerebral Palsy and wanted to hear her story. I always thought that I was "woke" when it came to relating and interacting with people who have various medical conditions, but Keah let me know that there's always more that we can learn. I loved her straight forward way where she laid her soul bare and let us into her world.
Keah is someone I'd love to meet and be friends with via social media. Following her would never be boring. She's bright, funny, painfully honest and tremendously insightful.
Thank you for teaching me and making me even more aware.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- menucha
- 07-31-20
Disabled Black Magic
Keah Brown writes straight from her heart and soul,it's an important read for others with disability to not feel alone,and for the rest of the world to learn about disability and it's intersectionality with being black,on top of all that it's just an amazing book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 06-21-23
Wonderful
This opened up a whole new perspective on life for me. Thank you for telling part of your story. I hope you continue telling us more of your journey.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tina Luna
- 07-19-21
I am choosing joy!
I also choose joy. Thank you Miss Brown for such an amazing book. Such wisdom at such a young age. There are so many little things to find joy in and so many big things we can accomplish if we set our mind to it. Thank you again.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jessica T
- 02-02-20
Great window onto a life
I greatly enjoyed the essays and musings of Kia Brown. She is helping to move the needle on representation of people with disabilities in the media. I wish that we had more media from people like her in books, and on TV.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Julia Jackson
- 04-26-23
Had high hopes
I unfortunately did not enjoy this audiobook. Stronger editing and more vulnerability and openness from the author would have improved the story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!