“We had originally intended to discuss this book—Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity by Andrew Solomon—under the heading ‘Nonfiction Sleepers.’ It certainly qualified: a well-researched social commentary, an excellent read, and a thoroughly under-appreciated book. However, Solomon’s book was just named one of the top five nonfiction books of 2012 by the New York Times, so it is officially no longer ‘asleep.’
The book is simply amazing. The author set about to document the lives of families with one or more ‘exceptional children.’ In this book, ‘exceptional’ includes any individual affected by a spectrum of physical, mental, social, and psychological differences—deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, children who are prodigies, or who become criminals, or who are transgendered, or many other differences. After interviewing more than three hundred families, many of them multiple times, over a ten-year period, Solomon came to a profound appreciation for these children and their families. He found that many families grow closer through caring for a challenging child and that most discover supportive communities of others similarly affected. His proposition is that it is in fact diversity that unites us all . . .”—Broadway Books,* Portland. Read more and buy Far from the Tree from Broadway Books.
* 24 Days of Books posts are written by Sally McPherson, Roberta Dyer and Kate Bennison, all of Broadway Books
