Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's - Tapa blanda

"Of course it's brilliant; my big brother wrote it. But even if it hadn't been created by my big, lumbering, swearing, unshaven "early man" sibling, this is a sweet and funny and sad and true and heartfelt a memoir as one could find, utterly unspoiled, uninfluenced, and original" (Augusten Burroughs, from the Foreword)

"John Robison's book is an immensely affecting account of a life lived according to his gifts rather than his limitations. His story provides ample evidence for my belief that individuals on the autistic spectrum are just as capable of rich and productive lives as anyone else" (Daniel Tammet, author of BORN ON A BLUE DAY)

"John has a life that is humanity's version of extreme support. Even without the Asperger's he would have had an appalling childhood ... This is no misery memoir, however. He is a gifted storyteller with a deadpan sense of humour and the book is a rollicking read" (The Times)

"Deeply felt and often darkly funny, Look Me in the Eye is a delight - five stars" (People magazine)

"It's a fantastic life story (highlights include building guitars for KISS) told with grace, humor, and a bracing lack of sentimentality" (Entertainment News)

From the time he was three or four years old, John Elder Robison realised that he was different from other people. He was unable to make eye contact or connect with other children, and by the time he was a teenager his odd habits - an inclination to blurt out non-sequiturs, obsessively dismantle radios, or dig five-foot holes (and stick his younger brother in them) - had earned him the label 'social deviant'. It didn't help that his mother conversed with light fixtures and his father spent evenings pickling himself in sherry.

Look Me in the Eye is his story of growing up with Asperger's syndrome at a time when the diagnosis simply didn't exist. Along the way it also tells the story of two brothers born eight years apart yet devoted to each other: the author and his younger brother Chris - who would grow up to become bestselling author Augusten Burroughs.

This book is a rare fusion of inspiration, dark comedy, and insight into the workings of the human mind. For someone who has struggled all his life to connect with other people, Robison proves to be an extraordinary storyteller - moving effortlessly from haunting descriptions of the teachers and adults who made him feel 'defective', to his savant-like abilities to visualise the operation of electronic circuits, to the tale of how he killed a huge water snake with a revolver on the patio of a rundown hotel on a rock n' roll tour with KISS.

And after reading about how John puzzles over small talk, you'll never hear a simple 'How are you?' in quite the same way again.