I've become a sucker for this kind of book - a well-written, accessible memoir that gives us a chance to see life from the point of view of someone else, especially someone whose life has special circumstances. The last book that did that for me was Beautiful Boy by David Sheff, an account of his son's addiction to meth.
Today, I just finished reading Born on a Blue Day in which Daniel Tammet talks about living with Asperger's syndrome as well as being a gifted savant with amazing mathematical and linguistic abilities. Asperger's is a form of autism which makes it a challenge for Daniel to connect emotionally with others and makes just living in the world from day to day very difficult. I think that I was mostly impressed by the way that Daniel's parents and family offer him unconditional love and the way that he approaches life with a great deal of courage and flexibility. Although Daniel's circumstances are extraordinary, I realized that the choices he has to make are really no different from those that any of us do... to look beyond our own experience, to challenge ourselves, to discover the particular way that we will love and connect with others, to be ok with who we are and even learn to celebrate our own gifts. Daniel's unique journey of making these choices makes for a special reading experience.
Today, I just finished reading Born on a Blue Day in which Daniel Tammet talks about living with Asperger's syndrome as well as being a gifted savant with amazing mathematical and linguistic abilities. Asperger's is a form of autism which makes it a challenge for Daniel to connect emotionally with others and makes just living in the world from day to day very difficult. I think that I was mostly impressed by the way that Daniel's parents and family offer him unconditional love and the way that he approaches life with a great deal of courage and flexibility. Although Daniel's circumstances are extraordinary, I realized that the choices he has to make are really no different from those that any of us do... to look beyond our own experience, to challenge ourselves, to discover the particular way that we will love and connect with others, to be ok with who we are and even learn to celebrate our own gifts. Daniel's unique journey of making these choices makes for a special reading experience.
Born on a Blue Day is in our biography section. Come take a look.
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