A memoir by the author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: A testament about how one artist sees the world, and how his experiences have shaped his vision.
Reading this memoir is like sitting on the floor in a room with a friend who spreads over the carpet their dog-eared, yellowing, predigital photo albums and spills out a box-file marked 'The Past.' It’s an immersive experience ... An uplifting book, funny and sad and hopeful.
Unusual and gripping ... In this book, chronology and detail aren’t necessary. It’s written sometimes in past tense, sometimes in present tense ... We follow the jumbled order of his mind, and it all makes perfect sense.
A tortured, philosophical reflection ... Often difficult to read ... Though it may seem taboo-busting to acknowledge disgust for your parents and relief at their death...it is also done with a cold detachment and lack of empathy, especially for Haddon’s mother, that contrasts starkly with the capacious emotional space he finds in great literature ... Often feels like ongoing therapeutic analysis, which may be good for the author, but might leave the reader asking, as with so much memoir, what’s in it for them.
