I just thought, since autism is such a new area for us to explore, that we might discuss where else we can find examples of autism in literature, and how well they are presented.

The one which I had in mind was Frank Cottrell Boyce's Millions, about two lads who find loads of money, one of whom is obsessed with saints, who appear to him.

I'm not sure that autism is actually mentioned in the book, but I think it is a pretty clear depiction. Cottrell Boyce also wrote Framed more recently, which is also from the PoV of a young boy, this time less explicitly autistic, but with a recognisable set of behaviours.

Maybe we ought to look for some non-fiction books on autism and suggest them as the official reading for next quarter.

Hmmm. I deliberately mentioned fiction, because, if you look at non-fiction, there are a lot of real fruit-loop ideas out there, and some of the books are downright offensive.

That's not to say that there aren't great books - I mena there's George & Sam, Nobody Nowhere, that book by a teenage lad which i frustratingly can't quite remember.

A good few, anyway.

Something by Oliver Sachs ought to be fairly reliable, right? He's a pretty reputable researcher, from what I know of him. And I bet he'd be willing to show up for an author chat.

Yes, for Oliver Sachs I would highly recommend An Anthropologist On Mars. He tells 7 amazing stories of patients he has encounters. One is a blind man who gained sight as a result of new technology, but didn't do so well. That story was turned into the movie At First Sight. My favorite story in that book was of a surgeon who had Tourette's Syndrome. He could control his ticks and random movements during surgery (how did he gain patient's trust?) or while flying a plane (!) in a way we can control blinking, i.e. up to a point. Another story in that book involved autism, about a woman who designed humane systems in slaughterhouses - she has a creative ability to figure out how to reduce the stress of the doomed creatures...

One of Sach's previous books was made into the movie Awakenings.

Edited by: LanDroid at: 2/25/06 10:42 pm

If you like "The Curious Incident" I think you would enjoy The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin. He describes the interior "workings" of another highly neurotic individual (dunno if it's autism). Recommend the audiobook - let Steve read it to you!

The first books I read that involved Autism, asperger's to be specific, were actually "Dear John" by Nicholas Sparks and "House Rules" by Jodi Picoult!