Young Helen Keller, blind, deaf, and mute since infancy, is in danger of being sent to an institution because her inability to communicate has left her frustrated and violent. In desperation, her parents seek help from the Perkins Institute, which sends them a "half-blind Yankee schoolgirl" named Annie Sullivan to tutor their daughter. Despite the Kellers' resistance and the belief that Helen "is like a little safe, locked, that no one can open," Annie suspects that within Helen lies the potential for more, if only she can reach her. Through persistence, love, and sheer stubbornness, Annie breaks through Helen's walls of silence and darkness and teaches her to communicate, bringing her into the world at last.

After a lot of soul-searching, Helen is able to netrun once again. Anne develops specialized wetware, turning Helen into a cyborg.

Helen's first interactions with Black ICE in this new form are nailbitingly tense. It's only with the help of Anne that Helen is able to confront her own personal daemons.

The Miracle Worker is a welcome addition to the cyberpunk genre, and I highly recommend it. William Gibson is to be commended.


Not the same Gibson   May 31, 2005
 15 out of 16 found this review helpful

If you're looking for cyberpunk reading material, be warned: this is NOT the same William Gibson of Neuromancer fame, though a brief perusal of the Amazon description should have told you this.

William Gibson, the cyberpunk novelist, was born in 1948; this play by William Gibson, the playwright (b. 1914), was first produced in 1959. To the idiots leaving 1-star / negative reviews of this item without having read the description, you got what you deserved. A quick perusal of Gibson's own website gives you a concise list of the books he's written.


An imprisoned mind set free   October 29, 2001
 14 out of 15 found this review helpful

"The Miracle Worker," a play by William Gibson, has had an enduring presence as a piece of living literature. It appeared on Broadway during the 1959-60 dramatic season, was made into a motion picture a couple of years later, and then was remade as a television movie for the 1979-80 season. The play's genesis lies in the real story of Helen Keller (1880-1968), the woman who was struck deaf and blind by illness at the age of 19 months. "The Miracle Worker" tells how a young Helen was led out of her prison of silence and darkness by the remarkable Anne Sullivan, who set out to teach the girl sign language.

"The Miracle Worker" is a truly great play. Gibson brilliantly takes the historical facts of Keller's childhood (many of which can be found in "The Story of My Life," Keller's 1902 autobiography) and turns them into a suspenseful, profoundly moving piece of theater. Although the core of the play is the fiery relationship between Sullivan and the wildly undisciplined Helen, Gibson's drama takes in the entire Keller household. I was particularly moved by the relationship between "Miss Annie" and Helen's frustrated but devoted mother.

"The Miracle Worker" is remarkable because much of the story is told not in dialogue, but in Gibson's stage directions. This is one of those plays which is not only powerful in performance, but also a gripping read.

Gibson's play is one of those great examples of a drama that takes real American life stories and turns them into enduring art; in that sense, it is comparable to such great works as "The Crucible," by Arthur Miller, or "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail," by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee.

"The Miracle Worker" is not only a compelling human drama, but also a reflection on courage, love, education, and the transcendent power of language. As an interesting complementary text, I recommend Octavia Butler's science fiction story "Speech Sounds" (which can be found in Butler's book "Bloodchild and Other Stories").


"She knows!"   June 6, 2005
 9 out of 11 found this review helpful

William Gibson's "The Miracle Worker" is as poignant and powerful today as it was back in 1957, when it was first performed on "Playhouse 90." Annie Sullivan is an "inexperienced half-blind Yankee schoolgirl" who attempts to reach seven-year-old Helen Keller, a child who became deaf and blind as a result of a childhood illness. Helen's father, Captain Keller, is a southern gentleman who is used to being obeyed. However, even he stands helplessly by in the face of Helen's violent and disruptive outbursts. Mrs. Keller, Helen's mother, is a sweet and loving person who pities Helen, and by giving in to her every whim, she helps turn her daughter into a demanding tyrant.

Annie Sullivan is only twenty when she comes to Alabama to become Helen's teacher. Annie had been blind herself, and although numerous operations on her eyes have restored some of her sight, her eyes remain weak and sensitive to light. Annie is appalled when she meets her volatile and undisciplined charge. The teacher sets out to civilize Helen by instructing her to eat from her own plate with utensils rather than grab food from everyone else's plate with her hands. This leads to an angry confrontation between teacher and student, which leaves both of them emotionally and physically drained. William Gibson's five page long stage directions describe in great detail this pitched battle between these two stubborn individuals. After this harrowing encounter, Annie realizes that only by separating Helen from her indulgent family can she ever hope to tame this brilliant but willful youngster.

"The Miracle Worker" is a beautifully constructed and concise play. Each act builds in intensity until the climactic scene when Helen associates the water that pours over her hands with the letters that Annie is constantly spelling into her palm. However, this drama is more than a heartwarming story about a dedicated teacher and her out-of-control student. It is a story about a family divided against itself. Captain Keller is an overbearing husband and father, Mrs. Keller is a mother in denial, and Helen's half-brother, James, never gets enough positive attention from his parents.

Gibson injects welcome humor into the play, as when Annie proclaims, "What good will your pity do her [Helen] when you're under the strawberries, Captain Keller?" In addition, Annie criticizes the family for treating Helen like a pet, adding sardonically, "Why, even a dog you housebreak." Some of the most resonant lines in "The Miracle Worker" deal with the importance of communication. Annie wisely observes, "Language is to the mind more than light is to the eye." If Helen is to ever function as an adult, she will need to learn sign language. To accomplish this, Annie seeks a breakthrough that will enable her to bring Helen's spirited soul out of the darkness of her isolation. When Annie drags Helen to a water pump to refill a pitcher she had dropped, Helen says, "Wah. Wah," remembering the word for water from babyhood. After the realization dawns on Helen that words stand for objects, Annie senses that, in the future, there will be no stopping this bright young woman from soaring as far as her lively mind will take her.


The Miracle Worker   May 22, 2003
 7 out of 8 found this review helpful

I read the miracle worker. I thought that this book was great. It really poened my eyes to the world, and made me realise that my life isn't so bad.
Imagine yourself achild with no hearing or sight. Hard to think about huh? It's almost unbelievable that this girl, Helen Keller, grew up to be such a fine women.
With the help of Annie Sullivan Helen's life was changed drastically, not only did she learn how to communicate, she continued on and began writting books.
I believe that Annie sullivan , being once blind herself , was really a "Miracle Worker" . This is a great book and I recomend it to any one who is looking for an insperational book.