What does the average person in this country know about the deaf? There are many stereotypes: they're stupid, they can't talk or talk funny; they spend their time with only other deaf people. What's That Pig Outdoors is an excellent book written by a deaf journalist. It is Henry Kisor's memoir. He lost his hearing at the age of three. He grew up in the hearing world and never went to a special school for the deaf. He learned to lip-read at an early age, and never learned sign language.

The book's title comes from the hazards of lip-reading. The title originates from a family incident that became a legend. Kisor was sitting in his chair when his son rushed in and shouted "What's that big noise?" Kisor got up and went to the window, "What pig outdoors?" he asked. To a lip-reader "pig outdoors" and "big loud noise" look almost identical.

While Kisor was growing up, he encountered some problems. Talking on the phone was impossible, but he usually could get a friend or family member to make his important calls. However, having your mother call to ask a woman out on a date would be very embarrassing. Even though Kisor was completely deaf, he worked his way up to book editor of the Chicago Times.

This book is very special because most books about deafness are not written by deaf people. Most deaf people never gain enough understanding of the English language to write intelligibly, let alone a book. That is where Kisor stands out: as a journalist his book is exceptionally well written, and very funny. .