288 pages
English language
Published July 5, 2007 by Bantam ; [, Crown Publishers, Random House].
Look Me in the Eye is a moving and unexpectedly funny memoir of growing up with Asperger's syndrome (a form of high-functioning autism) at a time when the diagnosis didn't even exist. Along the way it also tells the story of two brothers born eight years apart yet devoted to each other: the author and his younger brother, who would grow up to become Augusten Burroughs, author of the bestselling Running with Scissors and who has contributed a beautiful foreword to this book. For anyone who loved The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, and of course Running with Scissors.
Look Me in the Eye is a moving and unexpectedly funny memoir of growing up with Asperger's syndrome (a form of high-functioning autism) at a time when the diagnosis didn't even exist. Along the way it also tells the story of two brothers born eight years apart yet devoted to each other: the author and his younger brother, who would grow up to become Augusten Burroughs, author of the bestselling Running with Scissors and who has contributed a beautiful foreword to this book. For anyone who loved The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, and of course Running with Scissors.
For an autobiography it's pretty action packed. :-)
It moves right along. And it gives you an interesting look into life was Asperger's.
For an autobiography it's pretty action packed. :-)
It moves right along. And it gives you an interesting look into life was Asperger's.
Reviewing this book will be a complex affair; I gave it four stars but I wouldn't say I "liked" or "enjoyed" it. It was certainly educational, about Aspies yes, but also about humanity in general. The book often made me angry, however, with its characteristic habits (which I find among "normal" men as well as Aspies) of blowing off anything that he personally wasn't interested in or good at as unimportant... and by chronically lumping all "normal" people as possessing certain characteristics. Many "normal" people experience the same sufferings that he describes, only we suck it up and learn to cope, or pretend to cope. And not all "normal" people prefer platitudes to actual conversation -- and when we do, it is often for a functional reason. So I hope he gets off his "actually, this is better" place, and grows up some more.
So the book was often infuriating.
…
Reviewing this book will be a complex affair; I gave it four stars but I wouldn't say I "liked" or "enjoyed" it. It was certainly educational, about Aspies yes, but also about humanity in general. The book often made me angry, however, with its characteristic habits (which I find among "normal" men as well as Aspies) of blowing off anything that he personally wasn't interested in or good at as unimportant... and by chronically lumping all "normal" people as possessing certain characteristics. Many "normal" people experience the same sufferings that he describes, only we suck it up and learn to cope, or pretend to cope. And not all "normal" people prefer platitudes to actual conversation -- and when we do, it is often for a functional reason. So I hope he gets off his "actually, this is better" place, and grows up some more.
So the book was often infuriating.
But maybe that's just me.
I will have to think about that. I do hope to review it eventually, but for now I'm really glad I've finally finished it.
I read the paperback, which apparently has been "cleaned up" in terms of language compared to the original hardcover. The hardcover has been left raw. So read them both if you like.
