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June 08
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Mont'ster
read and liked
Bobbi's
review of Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's:
"Thank you, John Elder Robison, for writing this book. I love memoirs anyway, and this is a good one. A good memoir is like a visit to another country. This one took me to another planet:...more
Thank you, John Elder Robison, for writing this book. I love memoirs anyway, and this is a good one. A good memoir is like a visit to another country. This one took me to another planet: the planet of the Aspergians. Robison wryly compares himself at various points to a machine, an animal, or an alien, but he is none of these things; he is touchingly human and vulnerable in this volume. Communication isn't supposed to be one of the strong points of people with Asperger's Syndrome, but this book touched my heart, my funny bone, and even my brain.
The author, John Elder Robison is the brother of Augusten Burroughs, whose memoir, Running with Scissors is a hilarious take on a harrowing childhood. Imagine if David Sedaris and Frank McCourt could have a child. On second thought, no, don't. But I digress. Robison, in addition to giving his own perspective on growing up on the same family as Burroughs, tells the tale of his adult life, which is fascinating. It is also lovely to learn about the relationship between the brothers, a relationship forged under conditions that would have torn most families apart many times over.
Robison was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, in middle age. As he notes wryly, this explained a lot, from his inability to engage in small talk to his discomfort with eye contact to his stunning intellectual gifts. Robison's brilliant, funny and often horrifying pranks alone could have filled an entire book, but the heart of this book is the manner in which he is able to open up the world of Asperger's to the rest of us. Current estimates place about 1 in every 156 people on the autism spectrum, so I expect that many readers will join me in recognizing family members (and sometimes - gasp! - ourselves) in Robison's descriptions, sometimes with a nod, sometimes with a gasp, and sometimes with tears.
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Mont'ster
marked as to-read:
Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's (Hardcover)
by John Elder Robison (Goodreads author!)
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Mont'ster
read and liked
Lucy's
review of Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's:
"In a day when a cure is expected for nearly every ailment, flaw or disorder, I was struck by John Elder Robinson's assertion that those with Asperger's Syndrome, a neurobiological disorder on the autism spectrum that the author lived with undiagnosed...more
In a day when a cure is expected for nearly every ailment, flaw or disorder, I was struck by John Elder Robinson's assertion that those with Asperger's Syndrome, a neurobiological disorder on the autism spectrum that the author lived with undiagnosed until he was forty, needs no cure - only understanding.
John Elder Robinson starts his story with his earliest memories -a failed attempt to make friends in a sandbox and meanders through his shame at being called a deviant and a psychopath because he avoided eye contact (although his explanation about how he still doesn't understand most people's need to stare at somebody's eyeball while speaking to them is hilarious), leaving home in the middle of his teenage years, finding himself as part of the 70s rock scene and creating flaming guitars for KISS, faking his way through a job interview for a position as an engineer and getting it by reading and memorizing books about the subject, his parallel struggle to "be a team player" through out his career, until he finally arrives at understanding and acceptance for both his gifts and oddities.
Although this book contains many fascinating stories that stem from his dysfunctional childhood rather than his Asperger's Syndrome, Robinson's experiences and viewpoint sheds a great deal of light on an "Aspergian's" way of thinking. I have a nephew who has been diagnosed with Asperger's and a brother and sister-in-law who constantly seek balance between his way of seeing things and their own understanding. I found myself asking my sister-in-law the question, "Do you think he needs a cure?" Who is to say? Robinson made clear in his book that while he has learned a great deal about appropriate social responses through trial and error, he still finds them unnatural and really, more to the point, unnecessary. What is normal? How much of life's successes are social? What parts of our own personalities should be fixed? I mean, I can't imagine an enjoyable existence where we are all the same.
But, if Asperger's Syndrome falls on the Autism Spectrum, and we observe those with the kinds of autism that render them completely unable to connect to the outside world, certainly we feel they miss out on opportunities for relationships and meaningful experiences. Certainly we would choose a cure, if there was one to be found. So at what point of the spectrum do we intercede?
These are simply the questions that I had after reading this book. You may or may not have similar kinds. However, if you get a chance to read this illuminating book, you will definitely have a glimpse into a colorful and fascinating life....less
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Mont'ster
read and liked
Tressa's
review of Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's:
"“Look me in the eyes, young man!”
“Nobody trusts a man who won’t look them in the eye.”
“You look like a criminal.”
“I’ve read about people like you. They have no expression because they have no feeling. Some of the worst murdere...more
“Look me in the eyes, young man!”
“Nobody trusts a man who won’t look them in the eye.”
“You look like a criminal.”
“I’ve read about people like you. They have no expression because they have no feeling. Some of the worst murderers in history were sociopaths.”
These are just some of the things John Elder Robison heard as a young boy, decades before a friend handed him a book about Asperger’s Syndrome and told him, "This book describes you exactly." Hearing these predictions made Robison withdraw even further as a child as he waited for these awful things to come true. It wasn’t until he was a teenager that he realized he wasn’t going to become a serial killer. By that time he had met enough shifty people who had no trouble looking him in the eye to realize that these people had no idea what they were talking about. Learning that he was not defective and that he was not alone brought great peace to the adult John Elder Robison.
Although Robison was raised by a violent, alcoholic father and an increasingly mentally unstable mother, he was luckier than most Aspergian children at that time in that he was raised in a collegiate environment, where his quirky nature and adult personality were admired by professors and students. He honed his coping skills on college campuses across America. His brother, Augusten Burroughs, chronicled the dysfunction of the Robison family in his popular memoir, Running with Scissors (made into a movie in 2006). Burroughs believes that his brother was able to survive their turbulent childhood by his ability to shut down in traumatic situations.
Robison learned early on how not to answer a question. If a kid said, “Look at my Tonka truck,” instead of blurting out “I want some cookies,” he would force himself to supply the correct response: “That’s a neat truck! Can I hold it?” These skills helped him in his teenage and adult years, and he went on to design speakers for Pink Floyd and flaming guitars for KISS before settling down in the corporate world of designing electronic games for Milton Bradley. Eventually, his expertise in automotives steered him towards his own business of repairing and restoring European automobiles.
Some who are familiar with Aspies might be surprised at the emotion that Robison brings to his story. The chapters “I Get a Bear Cub” and “Winning at Basketball,” and the epilogue about his father’s death are surprisingly touching, breaking through the common robotic barrier of an Aspie. I was especially moved by his perfectly rational reason why Aspies don’t show emotion over tragic events that don’t directly affect them: "People die every minute, all over the world. If we tried to feel sorry for every death, our little hearts would explode." And he’s absolutely right.
Look Me in the Eye is one of the few books on Asperger's Syndrome that is not a dry training manual on the condition. I will always be grateful to Robison for telling his story because someone I'm close to has Asperger's, and I can now see that this person's eccentric way of doing things makes perfectly good sense to him, even if it sometimes doesn't to me.
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Mont'ster
gave
to:
Something Wicked This Way Comes (Mass Market Paperback)
by Ray Bradbury
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Mont'ster
gave
to:
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish (Dr.Seuss Board Books)
by Dr. Seuss
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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June 04
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Mont'ster
marked as to-read:
Crimes Against Logic (Paperback)
by Jamie Whyte
bookshelves:
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my rating:
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May 31
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Mont'ster
read and liked
Alana's
review of Bush Yoga:
"In this satirical little volume "George W. Bush" describes the yoga poses he employs to help deal with the stress of acting as Commander-in-Chief (those 5-hour work days) and to keep his brain power at 100% (that's 100%, frightening thought...more
In this satirical little volume "George W. Bush" describes the yoga poses he employs to help deal with the stress of acting as Commander-in-Chief (those 5-hour work days) and to keep his brain power at 100% (that's 100%, frightening thought, isn't it?).
Each yoga position is demonstrated by a Dubya action figure (think G.I. Joe in a flight suit and complete with the Prez' characteristic squint) which makes for some truly hilarious illustrations. (I'm thinking "Reclining Eternal One" in particular.)
These pictures are accompanied by both humorous (generally mocking) text regarding our CiC's thoughts on the poses uses and difficulties as well as actual useful hints and tips to help those interested in actually using the various poses.
Very funny. I love the action figure! I kind of want one... The Daily Show would have a field day... ...less
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May 30
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Mont'ster
read and liked
Lisa's
review of The Poisonwood Bible:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
This quote particularly stood out to me:
"No other continent has endured such an unspeakably bizarre combination of foreign thievery and foreign goodwill."
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I think I will start with my thoughts about Africa and then go from there.
This quote particularly stood out to me:
"No other continent has endured such an unspeakably bizarre combination of foreign thievery and foreign goodwill."
- Adah Price
I have long had a heart for this continent. Before I ever thought about marriage I always kind of imagined going there and trying to do something to help the people. Even before I became a Christian. It just doesn't seem fair that so many people have to suffer so much.
I remember briefly wanting to become a doctor or nurse (and then the urge for the legal profession came back to me) and work in a clinic there.
When I did become of an age where marriage was something I was thinking about I started doing research on diamonds and diamond mining. I soon learned of the attrocities that have occured in Sierra Leone, Côte d'Ivoire, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, etc. I just could not bring myself to own something that doesn't even have any real value and has caused so many people such pain. So when Stephen proposed I asked that he donate money to World Relief, one of the many organizations working to help people recover from the civil wars and other problems in Africa. And when we got married we chose simple bands without much adornment.
OK. Sure. I see other really beautiful rings and I want one. I like how they sparkle and sometimes I question myself or what other people think. But reading this book confirms it for me that I did the right thing. Not that this book really focuses on the problems that diamonds have created or even really goes into it, but it still reminded me of them.
I think the second thing about this book is that never before have I read something that came close to representing the craziness that was my childhood. And the fact that there were four girls and a mother all telling it from different perspectives.... This book, along with Jung Chang's Wild Swans really made me want to gather up all of my sisters' perspectives and tell our story.
But somehow I don't think I could even begin to tell it as eloquently or with the woven-in poetry like this book has. There are so many little literary gems in this book that just keep you wanting more to devour.
I think Kingsolver does a very good job of differentiating between each character. There wasn't a single point where I was lost as to which character's perspective I was getting, even without the names. I usually tend to skip over headings when I am reading (I think it is a leftover studying tatic to get more information in or something), so often I wouldn't even really "see" which of the four girls was talking, but I would know usually by the first or second sentence because they were so distinct.
Rachel is very superficial and concerned about things that I can't even imagine being concerned about if I were in her position. And yet by the end of the book you sort of grasp that maybe she isn't completely shut off in her uppity little world. Make no mistake, these circumstances have had an impact on her life:
I had my bags packed more than once. But when push came to shove I was always afraid. Of what? Well, it's hard to explain. Scared I wouldn't be able to fit back in is the long and short of it. I was only nineteen or twenty at that time. My high school friends would still have been whinning over boyfriends and fighting for carhop jobs at the A&W. Their idea of a dog-eat-dog world was Beauty School. And now here comes Rachel with stained hair and one dead sister and whole darn marriage behind her already, not to mention hell and high water. Not to mention the Congo. My long tramp through the mud left me tuckered out and just too worldly-wise to go along with the teen scene. "What was it like over there?" I could just hear them asking. What would I say? "Well the ants nearly ate us alive. Everybody we knew kept turning up dead of one disease and another. The babies all got diarrhea and plumb dried up. When we got hungry we'd go shoot animals and strip them of their hides." Let's face it, I could never have been popular again at home. The people I'd always chummed around with would stop speaking to you if they so much as suspected you'd ever gone poo behind a bush.
Meanwhile Leah is so stubborn and strong willed, much like her father. Adah rambles on in her strange way, but it does a part in telling the story. And Ruth May is the childish voice, so innocent. Always innocent.
By hearing the story sort of in retrospect from each sister and their mother, the story unfolds slowly, drawing the reader in. You get a better sense of how deeply the circumstances have shaped their lives. Much better I think than if the book had been told from the all knowing narrator position with the author describing how each sister felt or what they had to face. This way you get inside each of their heads to know how they really feel.
I saw bits of myself in each girl and how they handled things. I can look to certain situations in my life and see how I handled it similarly to how any one of these girls handled it. I really get a sense and understanding of what they are going through and how they react seems a resonable response.
I think there is a lot of significance in the title and how little effort Nathan Price put into understanding the culture of these people. This book is definitely a "how not to be a good missionary" guide book in my opinion. There were times when I just wanted to reach into the pages and shake the man.
I also thought it particularly interesting how the author chose to depict Nathan Price's demise and how the girls connect it to "The Verse" punishments that he doled out.
All in all I loved this book.
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May 26
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Mont'ster made a comment in the group Book Buying Addicts Anonymous—The Title Game topic:
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Mont'ster said:
"Jeff, when did we start reading this book? It just never occured to me to add it here. :-)
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