This work investigates the social experiences, identity formation, and community structures of individuals with dwarfism living in the United States. Joan Ablon, a medical anthropologist, utilizes qualitative research methods to examine how individuals navigate a society designed for average-sized people. The book presents a framework for understanding the intersection of physical difference, social stigma, and the development of subcultural support systems.

Scholars in the field of disability studies recognize this text as a foundational ethnographic study of the dwarfism community. Readers frequently note the accessible yet rigorous academic approach taken by the author in documenting these lived experiences.