Product Description

An exceptionally haunting memoir that also shows us what it is to be really human. In a hardware store, Joe sits on a display toilet amidst the throng of customers and wees, smiling serenely. He thumps crying babies. He is amazed when the car he runs in front of actually hits him. Joe is ten and mentally disabled. He's funny, fascinating and maddening, and this memoir tells his moving story, but also argues that until we know Joe's life, we can't understand our own. Through philosophy, psychology and medical research, the author explains how we are mind-readers, how we make sense of other people and how we understand guilt and innocence, and shows that Joe sets our humanity in sharp relief. But in that case, is Joe part of it? The author who asks that outrageous question is Joe's father.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #253324 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-11
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Review
"No less than a voyage into the deep places of the human spirit and a vision of what lies beneath conventional notions of sanity and aberration" Ruth Rendell "Blastland has performed a remarkable service in baring his family life for us" Simon Baron-Cohen (author of The Essential Difference), Guardian "An uncompromising philosophical inquiry...stands out as a work of rare enlightenment" Sunday Telegraph "Vividly engaging. If you want to know what classic autism is like, close-up and personal then read this book" Uta Frith, PhD, University College London and author of Autism: Explaining the Enigma "Compelling. Read it. Enjoy it. Learn from it. It will haunt you." Bernard Rimland, PhD, consultant for Rain Man"

Julie Wheelwright , The Independent
(Blastland's)honesty is in keeping with this compelling, brave and highly readable book that never verges on the sentimental

Melissa Katsoulis, Sunday Telegraph
His book is an uncompromising philosophical inquiry... Joe stands out as a work of rare enlightenment.

Customer Reviews

A great book, but not exactly what it says on the tin!
This is a heart-warming book. The author, writing about his son, candidly discuss the problems, the tantrums, the obsessions, and also the glee, the energy and the boundless, if temperamental, enthusiasm. It’s realistic about the problems and pitfalls, but ends on an amazingly upbeat note.

One point that is important to note, though, and this is what I mean by 'not what it says on the tin'; it’s more philosophical treatise than biography. Each of the ten chapters use an incident as a springboard for a discussion of Joe and of autism, and what it means for the humanity of all of us. This is acutely observed and absolutely fascinating, but it is not a biography, despite what the blurb implies.

Having said that, I enjoyed it no less for that.

Joe's World
Michael Blastland provides an intelligent and compassionate account of what it means to live with autism. The anecdotes of life with his 10 year old son, Joe, are used to challenge and explore the way we come to understand and value our own experiences and to make life 'work' for us. The author uses a number of well-researched sources to supplement and shape his own reflections, so the book maintains its gravitas without losing its freshness and vitality. It is impossible to read Joe's story without being moved, engaged and educated. This is a must for those learning to live with the mentally handicapped, as well as those seeking to understand the fragility and the complexity of the mind. It's a compelling read!

A great book, but not exactly what it says on the tin!
This is a heart-warming book. The author, writing about his son, candidly discuss the problems, the tantrums, the obsessions, and also the glee, the energy and the boundless, if temperamental, enthusiasm. It’s realistic about the problems and pitfalls, but ends on an amazingly upbeat note.

One point that is important to note, though; it’s more philosophical treatise than biography. Each of the ten chapters use an incident as a springboard for a discussion of Joe and of autism, and what it means for the humanity of all of us. This is acutely observed and absolutely fascinating, but it is not a biography, despite what the blurb implies.

Having said that, I enjoyed it no less for that.