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Good Reading : December January 2009
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word of mouth biography / memoir Look Me in the Eye: My life with Asperger’s John Elder Robinson Robinson’s account of L his life with Asperger’s Syndrome, the autism spectrum disorder that affects social and communication skills. When Robinson was a child Asperger’s wasn’t yet recognised; his eccentric behaviour was assumed to be a deviant streak. Robinson’s book discloses how he overcame a difficult childhood in a family of alcoholism and mental illness to find success in career and family (Robinson’s early life is touched upon in his brother Augustin Burrows’s famous memoir, Running With Scissors.) Robinson is gifted when it comes to machines, a preoccupation that began with toy tractor Chippy. Robinson explains that ‘Chippy was never mean to me. I always got along with machines’. His special skills led Robinson to tour around the world with rock legends KISS. It also aided his narrow escape from imprisonment on a tropical island. Robinson relates his experience of Asperger’s with lucid detail, methodically explaining the thought processes at work when conversing with others. This is a wonderful insight into Asperger’s, told by such an endearing writer. Finishing this book was like parting with an old friend, and considering the popularity of Robinson’s blog, I suspect this is a common sentiment. ???? Bantam $24.95 Reviewed by Alexandra Irving Mother Land Dmetri Kakmi F ar from the city of Melbourne he now calls home, author and editor Dmetri Kakmi grew up on a small island nestled in the Aegean sea. Tellingly, it has two names. In Greek, the island is Tenedos, ‘the place of Tenes’ – the island’s first king when Troy shone bright on the opposite shore. Its Turkish name, Bozcaada, on the other hand, is far 40 goodreading i DECEMBER 2008 / JANUARY 2009 ook Me in the Eye is John Elder Dewey: The small-town library cat who touched the world Vicki Myron H ow can you resist Dewey, the ginger cat who changed a small town and the lives of thousands of people? Simply look at his direct feline gaze as he poses on the front cover. Dewey was just a few days old when he was deposited in the returns chute of the local library in the small town of Spencer, Iowa. Somehow he had survived the incredibly cold night in the harsh Iowa mid-winter. From the moment librarian Vicki Myron pulled the kitten from the chute, he changed her life and her small farming town, which was suffering from severe economic hardship. Tell Me Where it Hurts Dr Nick Trout working in one of the world’s best animal surgeries in Boston. Dr Trout takes readers on a tour of modern pet care, where pet owners are more pet ‘parents’ and description of cutting-edge facilities and the level of health care provided is something I suspect many humans aspire to! We shadow Dr Trout from his D 2.57am wake-up call as Sage, a loyal German shepherd, needs life-saving surgery. The day brings moments of poignancy as loyal companions face death as well as hilarity and oddities, including a randy turtle. less glorious and translates simply as the ‘barren island’. It is this tension between two clashing cultures forced to cohabit on the one island that animates Kakmi’s moving memoir Mother Land. Returning as a grown man, Kakmi seeks to reconcile the unsettling memories of his childhood with his adult self. The undertow of racial tension lends the story gravity, however it is ultimately the story of his own family – the mystery of his ambivalent mother and his parents’ unhappy marriage, the shocking disappearance of loved ones and the shame of violent acts committed as Everything about books ONLINE www.goodreadingmagazine.com r Nick Trout is a charming English vet Dewey – eventually christened Dewey Readmore Books – made the small Spencer library his home. He had the innate ability to bond with people. The librarians eventually petitioned to make their workplace his permanent home. This is Vicki Myron’s story as much as Dewey’s and it chronicles both her life and the changing nature of libraries and life in a small town. This isn’t just a story about the wonder of animal and human friendships, but indeed about the need for warmth and community when the chips are down. If you enjoyed Marley and Me, you’ll love Dewey. You will also need a box or two of tissues. ???? Hodder $35.00 Reviewed by Alex Fraser In his book, the wizardry of surgery and medicine may awe, but the alchemy of ‘vet’s sense’, and the healing bond between humans and their distressed animal is heart-warming. At a time when the financial stress of caring for pets is hitting headlines, this timely book offers a caring, vet’s-eye view of what is now a multi-billion dollar industry world-wide. How far would you go to save your pet? I adore animals, but not relentless stories about animals in pain. If you were a young vet or studying in the field this is a five-star book, but I’m a general reader and animal-lover, so overall it was just a bit too much. ?? Little, Brown $35.00 Reviewed by Emma Rusher young boy – that he desires to unravel. Echoing Virginia Woolf ’s elegy to her parents, To the Lighthouse, the writing of which she claimed finally laid them to rest in her mind, Kakmi’s lyrical storytelling draws on the rhythms of the ocean and the dynamism of an ancient island on the cusp of modernity to plunge the reader back in time. It is a slow yet satisfying read, its most powerful moments unfold when the author reveals his own shortcomings with honesty, avoiding any temptation to airbrush the past. ??? Giramondo $29.95 Reviewed by Ella Mudie
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