APRIL 2022 - AudioFile
Author/narrator Mickey Rowe delivers a fierce and vivacious performance of this audiobook about his arduous and triumphant journey to becoming an actor with autism. Rowe details the tribulations faced by people with disabilities as they navigate a world that marginalizes them and bars them from opportunities that able-bodied people take for granted. His frustration and exhaustion are clear, but so is his tenacity to improve the world around him at all costs. His talent as an actor makes for a dramatic audiobook full of wit and charm, perfect for moments of humor in some sections, and boldly authentic in other, more somber, segments. A powerful and important story with something for everyone. A.K.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 11/29/2021
In this immensely inspiring debut, Rowe recounts how he achieved his acting dreams “because of and not in spite of my autism.” He writes of his difficult childhood, having grown up with a neglectful mother, younger brothers who bullied him, and a school system that failed to make accommodations for his disability. When his grandmother introduced him to Seattle Children’s Theatre, a young Rowe found solace in watching the “human, wise, and flawed characters” before him. While this led him down an arduous path to finding a career on the stage—one riddled with prejudice from directors and “rejection after gaslit rejection”—he finally found success as the first openly autistic actor to play the autistic lead as Christopher Boone in a 2017 Indiana production of the Broadway hit, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. In addition to relaying his incredible story of persistence, Rowe shares the challenges he faced raising his autistic son, celebrates the joys of finding love (“nonautistics should be jealous they don’t get to experience sex as an autistic person”), and launches a searing indictment of the horrific ways society casts aside those with disabilities: “at least one disabled person is killed per week by their parent or caregiver.” The result powerfully renders what it’s like to live life to the fullest. (Mar.)
Chris Nikic
Mickey overcomes so much to set such an amazing example of what is possible for all of us who struggle to overcome barriers and obstacles. His story will have a powerful impact on all of us in raising our belief and confidence to go after our dreams. Thank you, Mickey.
Diversability
Please read Fearlessly Different, a story about a disabled artist who changed the world. Those changes created opportunities for countless other disabled people. It is only the opportunity he offers. You must take the first step. Read this book. It can change your whole outlook on this terrible beautiful world. It has mine.
Josephine Reed
Mickey Rowe is a gracious, wise, and yes, fearless guide as he enables us to experience the world as he does and more importantly, helps us to envision new possibilities. Mickey is not just an accomplished actor who can command a stage, he’s a thinker who can expand our understanding of “difference” and “normal.” He’s also a generous writer with a distinctive voice and the skill to make Fearlessly Different a deeply personal reading experience—like a good conversation with a smart and kind friend who has a lot to share.
Pie Lady Books on Instagram Stephanie Hockersmith
Mickey Rowe’s story is so inspiring and the way he uses his voice to highlight the Disability Community is so incredibly powerful. The second I started reading, I was immediately captured by the story of Mickey fighting to show that his differences are his strengths.Mickey’s kindness, strength, and determination are something I think we all aspire to, and as someone who has dealt with years of aphasia, time in a wheelchair, and severe ADHD, I found myself in tears over and over again as I read his story of perseverance and positivity. Mickey is truly an example to us all to keep fighting and to use our differences to make the world a better place.
Keely Cat-Wells
Mickey is the definition of a “trailblazer,” and blazes with such grace and effervescence; through the highs of success and rollercoaster of life he remains grounded and relatable. This book is personal, charming, important, and touching. No matter one’s lived experience, it is incredibly pertinent.
Lex Gillette
As a Paralympic athlete and professional speaker, a large part of my message is helping the world realize that our differences unlock doors that lead to abundant opportunities and success. Mickey Rowe’s Fearlessly Different proves my point exactly.
Onstage NTX
Rowe offers several books in one: his own professional biography; his personal struggles with troubled relationships, including raising an autistic son as a single parent; a self-help manual for “different” performers; and a chronicle of his offstage public activism. Rowe writes with charm, quicksilver humor, and fierce conviction. He shows the way, and it shines a light for the rest of us.
Shane and Hannah Burcaw
Fearlessly Different is a powerful story about succeeding because of—rather than despite—one’s disability. Rowe paints an authentic picture of navigating our oftentimes ableist and inaccessible world with determination, humor, and love. His story is vital.
New York Theater
His book offers an unusual and therefore valuable perspective, demonstrating that, as Rowe writes, "autistic people can speak for themselves and tell their own stories."
Laurie Frankel
Mickey Rowe’s Fearlessly Different is fascinating, educating, elucidating, and sometimes enraging. It is inspirational and eye-opening. It is insightful and, hopefully, inciting—a call for action, for necessary and overdue change, for a vital, urgent reframing and rethinking of disability. But mostly, Fearlessly Different is a very good story—several of them, in fact—of resilience and courage and the strength and power of being two things: different and who you are.
Dylan Rafaty
Mickey Rowe is a living example of overcoming adversity as an activist and leader for change. Fearlessly Different sends you on an immersive journey of one's own courage, determination, strength, and self-awareness.
AudioFile
Mickey Rowe delivers a fierce and vivacious performance of this audiobook about his arduous and triumphant journey to becoming an actor with autism. Rowe details the tribulations faced by people with disabilities as they navigate a world that marginalizes them and bars them from opportunities able-bodied people take for granted. His talent as an actor makes for a dramatic audiobook full of wit and charm. He shares moments of humor in some sections, and is boldly authentic in more somber segments. A powerful and important story with something for everyone.
Library Journal
02/01/2022
Rowe, who is autistic and legally blind, shares the difficulty he encountered growing up. Rejected by his mother, he was shunned by classmates and constantly reminded of what he couldn't do. Sent to live with his grandparents in Seattle, he was introduced to the Seattle Children's Theatre, where he found his calling. Still, becoming an actor seemed out of reach. However, as this memoir shows, Rowe was fearless. By pushing against his supposed limitations, he not only became an actor (he landed the lead role in the play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, the first time an autistic actor played an autistic character), he became a husband, a father, a theater director, and founder of the National Disability Theater. As he makes clear, it was a long and difficult road, but he was undeterred. He adopted the mantra that differences are strengths, and the book ends with a call to action for readers to be brave, to live with compassion and empathy, and to embrace their differences. VERDICT A powerful book that will appeal to fans of stirring and inspiring memoirs.—Rosellen Brewer
APRIL 2022 - AudioFile
Author/narrator Mickey Rowe delivers a fierce and vivacious performance of this audiobook about his arduous and triumphant journey to becoming an actor with autism. Rowe details the tribulations faced by people with disabilities as they navigate a world that marginalizes them and bars them from opportunities that able-bodied people take for granted. His frustration and exhaustion are clear, but so is his tenacity to improve the world around him at all costs. His talent as an actor makes for a dramatic audiobook full of wit and charm, perfect for moments of humor in some sections, and boldly authentic in other, more somber, segments. A powerful and important story with something for everyone. A.K.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
