Product Description

A fantastically unusual detective story written from the perspective of an autistic boy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20532 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 279 pages

Synopsis
Christopher is 15 and lives in Swindon with his father. He has Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism. He is obsessed with maths, science and Sherlock Holmes but finds it hard to understand other people. When he discovers a dead dog on a neighbour's lawn he decides to solve the mystery and write a detective thriller about it. As in all good detective stories, however, the more he unearths, the deeper the mystery gets - for both Christopher and the rest of his family.

From the Back Cover
Fifteen-year-old Christopher has a photographic memory. He understands maths. He understands science. What he can't understand are other human beings. When he finds his neighbour's dog lying dead on the lawn, he decides to track down the killer and write a murder mystery about it. But what other mysteries will he end up uncovering?

Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize
Shortlisted for the Booktrust Teenage Prize

About the Author
Mark Haddon:
Mark Haddon is an author, illustrator and screenwriter who has written fifteen books and won two BAFTAS. He lives in Oxford.

Customer Reviews

Really amazing and an eye opener
***WARNING***:THIS BOOK IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE ADULT'S VERSION, JUST WITH A DIFFERENT COVER - WORD FOR WORD. STILL JUST AS MUCH SWEARING AND INDECENCY!***


I first read this book at the age of ten. My younger brother was 5, and had just started primary school; the same school as the one I was at.
I loved this book and thought it was funny, and deeply moving.
My brother (lets call him Joe Bloggs!) aka JB started to have problems at school. He wasn't paying attention, didn't seem to be learning anything.
He was diagnosed with Speech and Languege Problems.
This book has brought my whole family closer to the truth and we all suspect he has autism.
This book has a very realistic take on autism and has helped me understand my brother.

the best book
This is by far the best book I`ve ever read. I got so hooked to it i was late to high-scool because of it almost every day! the only let down is that every second chapter is a tutorial, and is very boring, but the normal chapters make up for that. Anyway, It starts with a spassy finding a dead dog called wellington killed with a garden fork. when he tries to find out who did it, he discovered a lot more secrets, and is lead on an intriguing adventure.

Not bad. Not great though.
As most reviews here will tell you, this is a book that is written from the point of view of an autistic child.

It is for this reason alone that I found the book a little boring and slow. Yes this is a unique style of writing and yes it's damn interesting reading, but after I was half way through I was a bit sick reading this style of writing. I almost wish the book was shorter. It would make a great short story. But a whole novel written like this?

Don't get me wrong. It is a great read, and very well written (for what it's meant to be), but personally I just found it a little tough going, reading a book written in an autistic style. Having said that, it is interesting, if not insightful.

I really feel stuck on the fence about this book. I'm pleased I read it, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it to friends. I def wouldn't read it again. Maybe it's a bit like watching Big Brother: You watch it. It's entertaining, a bit of a struggle at times, you've pleased you've watched it, but in the end you feel like you should've spent your time doing something else.