640.00 Non-fiction Book Review Look Me In The Eye (My Life with Asperger's)

[KC_in_KS]

Title of Book: Look Me In The Eye (My Life with Asperger's)

Author (s) name (s): John Elder Robison

Date of publication (year): 2007

Publisher: Crown Publishers

ISBN: 978-0-307-39598-6 (library binding)

Number of Pages: 282

Illustrated? No

Genre of the book: Biography

Rate your book: Recommended

Appropriate Age group for this book: Adult or mature teen

Book Summary: Biography of a young man who grew up with Asperger's Syndrome, though he wasn't diagnosed until adulthood.

Opinion of the Book: Not what I expected, though well enough for what it is. I expected a book on Asperger's, using real-life anecdotes for illustration. What I got was the biography of an every day person who happens to see the world a little differently than I do. At first it left me a little disappointed - I had to dig through the text to find the "aspie" stuff more than I liked. I kept thinking "enough with the daily grind, already!". In the end, I realized it was precisely that daily grind - and how he approaches it - that IS the best illustration of Asperger's.

I can't say whether this book would be encouraging or discouraging to the parents of a ASD child. On the one hand, John Elder is clearly "different", and he always will be. I know I mourned for the misunderstandings and cruelty he suffered, growing up without anyone knowing what causes his behavior. But this is one book I don't feel badly about giving away the ending - he owns his own business, has had a very lucrative career, is happily married, and he's the devoted father of a little boy.

Not a life-changing book, but it sheds some light. In the end, worth the reading time.


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[MAAM]

I just finished the book and came to write a review but you'd already done it. I read it and enjoyed it as well.

[KC_in_KS]

Oh, please go ahead and review it. Multiple viewpoints are always helpful!

[elphaba]

I loved this book. Its been a few years since I read it but I thought it was great- I loved the underlying implication that he was successful BECAUSE of his differences, not IN SPITE of them.