Book description
From the time he was three or four years old, John Elder Robison
realised that he was different from other people. He was unable to
make eye contact or connect with other children, and by the time he
was a teenager his odd habits - an inclination to blurt out
non-sequiturs, obsessively dismantle radios or dig five-foot holes
(and stick his younger brother in them) - had earned him the label
'social deviant'. It didn't help that his mother conversed with light
fixtures and his father spent evenings pickling himself in sherry.
Look Me in the Eye is his story of growing up with Asperger's
syndrome - a form of autism - at a time when the diagnosis simply
didn't 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 Chris, who would grow up to become bestselling author
Augusten Burroughs.
This book is a rare fusion of inspiration, dark comedy and insight
into the workings of the human mind. For someone who has struggled all
his life to connect with other people, Robison proves to be an
extraordinary storyteller.
John Robison lives with his wife and son in Amherst, Massachusetts.
His company, J E Robison Service, repairs and restores classic cars such
as Jaguars, Land Rovers, Rolls Royces and Bentleys. His website is www.
johnrobison. com.
