Title
of the Book: look me in the eye
Author: John Elder Robinson
Number of Pages: 274
Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Review:
Author: John Elder Robinson
Number of Pages: 274
Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Review:
Looking at the world and
feeling like you are different is something that everyone feels at some point
in their life. But what happened if you thought differently, reacted
differently, couldn’t socialize well, and had inappropriate reactions to almost
everything? look me in the eye is
an inside look of what it is like to live with Asperger’s, what it is like to
be the misfit, and what it is like to adjust to being “normal”.
This
book covers the life span of John Elder Robinson and his struggle with his
Asperger’s. He found that even when he was little, when things wouldn’t go
right, he would struggle to act in a manner that was socially acceptable and
was then labeled as “social deviant”. He wanted to connect with people in any
social setting but would say unsuitable things, often scaring people off.
Running his whole life with that tag, he failed at sports, debate and school, only
to find his love for electronics and creating new things, That new love sent
him to something amazing where he began to travel the world with KISS. Later in
his life, he became a husband and soon after a father. He began to try to be as
normal as possible; failing at that, John decided to help himself in the best
way possible and embrace his differences. Learning to do so led him to become
an incredible story teller, speaker, and author.
Being
such an incredible story teller, this book in different than others you might
read. First of all, the language being used isn’t polished or filtered.
Whatever is said is straight out and brutally honest. It tells the story in different
tones for every chapter. They can be dark, angry, happy and sad. This book
takes you on a trip all over the emotional rollercoaster.
This
book is not for those who want something uplifting all the time. It can get
deep and somewhat disturbing. I would suggest it to those in the medical or
mental illness field. It is an overall good read although it takes a mental
toll on those reading .
I read and wrote a review on this book too, and I have to disagree with you that Robison failed at becoming normal. I feel like throughout the book we were seeing him develop new social skills and adapt to society’s expectations. I’ve seen video interviews with him and he talks and acts pretty normal to me. I wouldn’t say he completely failed at “becoming normal” at all, I think he has managed to learn a lot of skills and apply them in social situations phenomenally, to the point where people don’t know he has Asperger’s.
ReplyDeleteI read this book also and liked it as well. Reading a book like this about someone who isn't like everyone else really makes you take a different look at life. While reading this book I felt like I was in his shoes and knew exactly how he was feeling.
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